PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. met with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian in Malacañang on Tuesday and discussed the reported harassment made by a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship toward a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel in the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea on Feb. 6.

In a press statement on Tuesday, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said Marcos raised his “serious concern” over China’s dangerous activity.

“The President summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian this afternoon to express his serious concern over the increasing frequency and intensity of actions by China against the Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen in their bancas, the latest of which was the deployment of a military-grade laser against our Coast Guard vessels,” the PCO said.

In a separate statement, the Chinese Embassy in Manila said Marcos and Huang “exchanged views on how to implement the consensus reached by the two heads of state, strengthen dialogue and communication, and properly manage maritime differences between China and the Philippines.”

Defense officer-in-charge Undersecretary Carlito Galvez Jr., Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra and Special Assistant to the President Anton Lagdameo were also at the meeting.

Earlier in the day, the Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed its eighth diplomatic protest this year before the Chinese Embassy in Manila, calling on Beijing to “cease and desist” its aggressive activities against Philippine vessels.

The diplomatic note “condemned the shadowing, harassment, dangerous maneuvers, directing of military-grade laser, and illegal radio challenges” by CCG vessel 5205 against the PCG vessel, BRP Malapascua.

The DFA asserted that the CCG’s actions constituted a threat to Philippine sovereignty and security as a state, and are infringements of its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza OOsaid the “acts of aggression” are both “disturbing and disappointing” as it closely follows the January bilateral summit between Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping, with the two leaders agreeing to manage maritime differences through diplomacy and dialogue.

During Marcos’ state visit to China, he and Xi agreed to establish a “direct communications line” on concerns related to the South China Sea in the West Philippine Sea to prevent any miscommunication between the two countries.

However, he said this hotline should not stop them from filing protests or sending notes verbales.

In another statement, Ned Price, US State Department spokesperson, said the “provocative and unsafe” use of military-grade laser light interfered with the Philippines’ lawful operations in and around Ayungin Shoal.

On Monday, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin defended China’s action, saying the PCG vessel “intruded” into the waters “without Chinese permission.”

Ayungin Shoal is part of the Kalayaan Island Group, which is an integral part of the Philippines, as well as its EEZ and continental shelf, and over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.

It is located about 105 nautical miles off Palawan, Philippines, well within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

PH CAN INVOKE MDT OVER LASER INCIDENT — CARPIO

China’s use of military-grade laser on a Philippine Coast Guard vessel during a re-supply mission for Filipino troops in Ayungin Shoal can be considered an armed attack, according to former Supreme Court associate justice Antonio Carpio, making the Philippines qualified to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States.

However, Carpio stressed that before invoking the treaty, the Philippines should first coordinate with the US and issue a joint statement that any future use of laser weapons by Chinese coast guard vessels on Philippine public vessels or aircraft will trigger the MDT’s operation.

Carpio cited the violation of the UN Charter and the 1998 Protocol on Blinding Laser Weapons, to which both China and the Philippines are parties.

“The recent use by China’s coast guard of lasers that temporarily blinded Philippine Coast Guard personnel constitutes an armed attack on a Philippine public vessel. The Philippines can thus invoke the MDT,” Carpio said in a rarely-issued press statement.

LAWMAKERS SLAM LATEST PCG ENCOUNTER WITH CHINA

The senators yesterday denounced the action of Chinese forces in the West Philippine Sea on PH Coast Guard near the Ayungin Shoal.

Senate President Juan Miguel Migz Zubiri condemned this move insisting that we should protest this kind of provocation.

“We stand completely behind our Coast Guard and we protest vigorously against the continued provocations of the Chinese Navy in the West Philippine Sea,” said Zubiri.

“This is not the first time our troops have been harassed by Chinese forces on our waters, so we strongly appeal to the Embassy of China and to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to cease all their aggressive intimidation tactics,” he added.

Last December, Zubiri also called China out for one of their vessels aggressively pursuing a small contingent of the Philippine Navy in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese vessel proceeded to forcibly seize from the Philippine Navy a scrap of unidentified debris, suspected to be from a Chinese rocket launch. The Senate adopted a resolution condemning this incident.

“We completely condemn not only this latest incident with the military-grade laser, but the repeated incidents of harassment on our waters,” Zubiri emphasized.

“We will not tolerate this, and we will continue to support our Navy and Coast Guard as they defend our waters,” the Senate chief said.

Senator Jose Jinggoy Estrada said this kind of intimidation tactic should be condemned in the international community.

“We condemn this latest intimidation tactic employed by the Chinese Coast Guard against members of the Philippine Coast Guard on a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin Shoal. Their act, which reportedly caused temporary blindness to the crew members is loathsome as it put them in harm’s way and jeopardized their safety. This provocative action should be stopped. We urge the Department of Foreign Affairs to lodge a diplomatic protest and stand firm in defending the country’s sovereign rights under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS),” Estrada pointed out.

Estrada, chairperson of the Committee on National Defense and Security, assures his colleagues that Senate bill 1894 which seeks to amend Rep. Act 11709 or “An Act Strengthening Professionalism and Promoting the Continuity of Policies and Modernization Initiatives in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)” will address the “revolving-door policy” in the military services.

Senator Risa Hontiveros expressed the same sentiment saying this must not be tolerated as she maintained that this move against our Navy and Coast Guard should not cow us.

Hontiveros said any justification for this kind of move is not acceptable.

“China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is lying. It cannot claim that the Chinese Coast Guard ship acted in accordance with international law when the 2016 arbitral tribunal that ruled against China’s baseless 9-dash-line claim was constituted precisely under the UNCLOS.” Hontiveros said.

“Maliwanag pa sa sikat ng araw na ang Ayungin Shoal ay teritoryo ng Pilipinas. Hindi yan sa Tsina. Huwag nila tawagin ng Tsinong pangalan. Ayungin is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The UNCLOS affirms this. The wider international community recognizes this. It is only China’s authoritarian government that seems to think otherwise.”the lady senator said.

She urged the need to stand up for what is ours and what is right amidst the bullying treatment that our navy and coast guard officers are getting from the Chinese Coast Guard.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers called on fellow Filipinos to stand united and rally behind the President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as he expresses our frustrations and protests diplomatically.

“We cannot anymore keep quiet and endure in silence. We have suffered long enough. Our fishermen have been directly victimized. As if it was not enough, they now provoked our military and committed an act of military aggression,” Barbers said.

“We call on our allies to help us in the implementation of the arbitral ruling that gave us territorial jurisdiction over the seas now being occupied illegally and without an iota of basis neither in history nor in International Law, by China,” Barbers added. PNA, Hector Lawas, Camille P. Balagtas, Jester Manalastas