THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson on issues concerning the West Philippine Sea (WPS) told a weekly media forum last week that Chinese maritime authorities have scaled up their aggressive activities in areas claimed by the Philippines in the greater South China Sea (SCS).
Commodore Jay Tarriela was referring to the Chinese vessels’ aggressive actions against the Philippine vessels on December 4 at the Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal and Panatag Shoal, where People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels with bow numbers 500 and 571 also took part by tailing the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua “at the very close distance of 300 yards.”
Also on December 4, the CCG reportedly harassed the BRP Melchora Aquino, BRP Cape Engaño, and the BFAR vessels that were deployed at Escoda Shoal.
‘We are confident that President Marcos Jr knows his options and he does need any subordinate to point this out.’
The already tense situation was further exacerbated when an unidentified Chinese vessel struck a ship of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) with a “high-intensity laser” in the WPS last December 2. The incident occurred in the vicinity of Hasa-Hasa (Half Moon) shoal, a feature located just about 111 kilometers (60 nautical miles) off Palawan. The high-intensity laser was “red, albeit appeared violet in photos and painful to the eyes.”
The WPS situation has become dire and volatile by the day, with Commodore Tarriela claiming that the People’s Liberation Army Navy had sent its warship to backstop the Chinese Coast Guard vessels during the December 4 incident. Tarriela noted that it was the first time that Chinese warships “interfered and participated in the harassment of a PCG vessel.”
While the Chinese side has denied the gravity of the PCG’s appreciation of these incidents, our Department of Foreign Affairs readily filed its protest over the incident, the latest of hundreds of such letter-protests through the years.
Tarriela, while stressing that he is not making a formal recommendation, said President Marcos Jr. may consider sending naval ships into the country’s territorial waters as a “policy option.”
“It is up to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to carry out a policy recommendation to the President and the Commander-in-Chief, the President himself, has the full authority to decide on this,” Tarriela said. He added that Marcos has the sole authority to decide on whether there is a need to modify the Philippines’ response to the West Philippine Sea situation.
We are confident that President Marcos Jr knows his options and he does need any subordinate to point this out. It’s like saying we can send in the Navy or the Marines since we have sighted a PLAN warship loitering in the area. A deterioration of the West Philippine Sea situation is the least that we need.
Tarriela should be reminded that the last time we sent a warship there during the term of President Noynoy Aquino, we lost Scarborough Shoal to the Chinese. The government must weigh everything well before acting impulsively like P-Noy.
