THE problems involving the South China Sea have become so muddled with many officials and “experts” weighing in on the issues that any independent receiver of information would necessarily be confused. The recent incident which has become a huge bone of contention is the water cannon attack by the China Coast Guard on a Philippine supply vessel which was bringing food and other supplies to Filipino soldiers stationed at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre which was converted as the country’s forward base in that part of the West Philippine Sea.
Foreign and local observers noted that this water cannoning last August 5 was the first time since November 2021 that the Chinese Coast Guard used water cannon against a Philippine supply mission in the Ayungin Shoal, also known as the Second Thomas Shoal and by its Chinese name, Ren’air Jiao.
‘This fluid situation opens up opportunities for warmongers to try exacerbating the tension, which is bad for both the Philippines and China.’
It is understandable and actually needed for the PCG to issue a strong statement of condemnation about the incident. It said: “The Philippine Coast Guard strongly condemns the China Coast Guard’s dangerous maneuvers and illegal use of water cannons against the PCG vessels. Such actions by the CCG not only disregarded the safety of the PCG crew and the supply boats but also violated international law.”
On the part of China, the clarification came from the Chinese Coast Guard which acknowledged its ships used water cannons against the PH vessels, which it said strayed without authorization into the Ren’ai Jiao shoal. It also accused the Philippines of reneging on a promise to remove the grounded warship from the shoal, which elicited a remark from President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that there was no such pledge, and if there was, he was forthwith rescinding it.
Too many Filipino voices are being heard on these issues, with the US State Department and US Embassy, Armed Forces chief of staff, the National Security Council spokesman on West Philippine Sea, the spokesman of the Philippine Coast Guard, senators and representatives, almost every other blogger and newspaper columnist, and academic experts.
This fluid situation opens up opportunities for warmongers to try exacerbating the tension, which is bad for both the Philippines and China.
Sen. Francis Escudero urged President Marcos Jr. to order top officials of the AFP and other agencies to refrain from speaking out on foreign policy to prevent an escalation of tensions with China. Escudero also cautioned the government’s economic managers against heeding suggestions to boycott products from China and ban contractors from that country.
There is merit in Senator Escudero’s suggestion for Marcos to issue a directive that only he can speak on the matter of the West Philippine Sea, adding that “it creates confusion when any general is interviewed as saying that [the water cannoning incident] is an act of war.”
Escudero’s take is for the Philippines to “always keep the doors open to talks with China and we should not let inflammatory statements in the political debate, which may only heighten the tension on either side and may not bring positive results toward the resolution of this dispute.”
