FOLLOWING what authorities described as the latest of the “extremely reckless and dangerous harassment at close proximity” by Chinese vessels in the Philippine territory, Camarines Sur Rep. LRay Villafuerte has said that defense and security establishment should accelerate plans for the joint maritime patrols with the United States (US) and other allies who similarly want to “put an end to Beijing’s “bullying” in the Indo-Pacific seas.

Putting the US and other like-minded allies onboard the planned multilateral patrols is urgent, said Villafuerte, more so now when the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Saturday having monitored a fleet of 38 Chinese vessels, which is the biggest thus far, within the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal.

PCG spokesman for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela disclosed that they spotted China’s bigger fleet of vessels there during the latest resupply mission last Nov. 10, when the latest water-cannoning incident occurred.

“Beijing’s nonstop, increasingly dangerous and provocative incursions in breach of our national sovereignty and sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea must stop sooner than later, more so after the latest collision and water cannon incidents off Ayungin Shoal that underline a serious escalation of the illegal activities of China in Philippine territory in utter disregard of international law,” Villafuerte, National Unity Party (NUP) president and former governor, said.

Villafuerte issued this statement after the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) and the PCG reported that China Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels again used water cannons and made dangerous maneuvers last Friday in a bid to block the latest rotation and reprovision (RORE) mission for Filipino troops assigned at our military outpost BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal.

CCG spokesman Gan Yu asserted that Philippine vessels had “arbitrarily trespassed into the waters near China’s Ren’ai Reef.” Last Aug. 5, the CCG had also fired water cannons at our resupply boats on their way to Ayungin.

Villafuerte has been pushing joint maritime patrols with allied nations ever since CCG and CMM vessels have stepped up their incursive maneuvers under the Marcos administration into the WPS, which form part of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

He said that maritime patrols with the US and other like-minded states have become “more workable and achievable” at this point, as quite a number of our allies have been quick in condemning China’s increasingly dangerous maneuvers in the WPS as they expressed their support for the Philippines and the sanctity of international law.

The US, Australia, France and the European Union (EU) were the first to assail the water-cannoning incident and expressed their renewed support for the Philippines.

American Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said despite China’s continued “harassment, the Philippines successfully and lawfully resupplied its forces on the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal, located wholly within the Philippines’ EEZ.”

Also, Villafuerte called on the Filipino people to heed the Marcos administration’s call for them to stand behind our constitutional mandate to secure our national interest in the WPS.

He likewise expressed support for Speaker Martin Romualdez’s assurance that the government would exhaust all diplomatic initiatives on peacefully resolving the conflict and mobilizing the support of the international community on preventing China’s similarly unlawful maneuvers in the future.

In a weekend statement, the NTF-WPS reported that, “At 7:30 a.m., today, Nov. 10, 2023, CCG and CMM vessels recklessly harassed, blocked and executed dangerous maneuvers in another attempt to illegally impede or obstruct a RORE mission to BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.”

The task force said that Philippine resupply boats Unaizah Mae 1 (UM1) and M/L Kalayaan were able to reach BRP Sierra Madre to unload their cargo “despite being subjected to extremely reckless and dangerous harassment at close proximity” by CCG’s rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RHIB) inside the Ayungin lagoon.

NTF-WPS said CCG vessel 5203 blasted M/L Kalayaan with water cannon “in an illegal though unsuccessful attempt to force the latter to alter course.”

Analysts have pointed out that the Chinese want Ayungin Shoal because it is near Panganiban Reef, where they have built an air-and-naval base, and is a gateway to Recto Bank, which is believed to have oil and natural gas reserves.

Villafuerte said he was correct in his earlier observation that the official diplomatic discussions between Manila and Beijing have been going nowhere as the formal negotiations between the topmost officials of both countries on the Marcos watch on a peaceful resolution of their territorial dispute have only been followed by more incursions of Chinese vessels in the WPS.

A month after the Marcos-Xi Jin Ping meeting, the PCG and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported in February that CCG 5205 had trained a military-grade laser light on BRP Malapascua, which was on a resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal, temporarily blinding the crew of our coast guard boat, Villafuerte said.

Then the following month, he said, 42 Chinese vessels were spotted by the PCG intruding into the WPS, right after the conclusion in Manila of the 7th Bilateral Consultations Mechanism (BCM) on the SCS last March 24 that involved top Chinese and DFA officials.

He then noted that after President Marcos’ talks in Manila last April 22 with then-visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Qun Gang on establishing more “lines of communications” to immediately resolve territorial conflicts, over 100 Chinese vessels were reported intruding into and doing “illegal actions” in the WPS, including a near-collision between CCG and a PCG patrol boat with journalists onboard.

He recalled that the first round in Manila of this year’s edition of the long-winding negotiations on a binding COC in the SCS was held in Manila last August at a time when Beijing insisted that Manila had committed to tow away BRP Sierra Madre, without saying who made such a promise and when it was supposedly made.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Ryan Ponce Pacpaco