The Philippines strongly protested the back-to-back harassment of Philippine vessels by Chinese forces in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

According to DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza, the message was personally conveyed by DFA Undersecretary Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro to Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian, who was summoned to the DFA on Monday.

Lazaro protested China's dangerous maneuvers that led to the "collision, illegal shadowing, and the undue use of water cannons against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines."

Daza said Lazaro referred to the incident at Ayungin Shoal when a Philippine convoy tried to deliver fresh supplies to Filipino troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre.

"The DFA reiterated to the Chinese Ambassador that Ayungin Shoal is not an island. It is a low-tide elevation within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, as upheld by the 2016 Arbitral Award and in accordance with UNCLOS," she said.

"As such, the Philippines exercises sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the feature. As a low-tide elevation, Ayungin Shoal can neither be the subject of a sovereignty claim nor is it capable of appropriation under international law," Huang was told, according to Daza.

During Lazaro's meeting with Huang, she stressed that the rotation and resupply missions of the Philippines to the BRP Sierra Madre are part of the regular operations of the Philippine government in line with domestic and international law.

"She stressed that China has no right to interfere with the Philippines' legitimate activities in the Philippines' own EEZ, including in the waters around Ayungin Shoal," she said.

"The actions of the Chinese vessels within the Philippine EEZ are illegal and violate the freedom of navigation," she added.

Daza said the Philippine government firmly asked China to "direct its vessels to cease from its illegal actions against Philippine vessels, and to stop interfering in legitimate Philippine government activities or lingering in the waters around Ayungin Shoal, or doing any actions that violate the Philippines' sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone."

On Sunday, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea reported that the China Coast Guard fired a water cannon to obstruct the country's resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal, seriously damaging one of its engines.

The incident happened a day after the CCG blasted a water cannon at the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels at Scarborough Shoal. The BFAR boats were on a mission to deliver supplies to Filipino fishermen in the area.