The Chinese Coast Guard recently placed new floating barriers at the southeastern entrance of Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal), as confirmed by Commodore Jay Tarriela, the spokesperson for the Philippine Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.

“From there, it’s not just the floating barrier that is worth noting but you can actually see that there are two Chinese Coast Guard vessels guarding the lagoon,” Tarriela said in a news forum in Quezon City.

According to Tarriela, Beijing has positioned its CCG vessel 3063 and CCG vessel 3064 to monitor the floating barriers.

“And they have also deployed their speedboats to make sure na mababantayan itong (they can monitor the) floating barriers,” he added.

Maintaining that Bajo de Masinloc serves as a traditional fishing ground for Filipinos in Zambales, Tarriela said the floating barriers prevent fishermen from entering the area and conducting fishing activities in the area.

Tarriela said the CCG started installing floating barriers on 15 February—when it was the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ turn to conduct maritime patrol.

He said there were no floating barriers installed in the area when the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua conducted its nine-day maritime patrol operations from 1 to 9 February.

“Since we left Bajo de Masinloc from 8 February, there are no floating barriers [in there], and then, the following day 9 February still nothing, until 13 February, no floating barriers in the area,” he said.

When the BFAR’s BRP Tamblot arrived in the shoal on 15 February, Tarriela said that was the time they noticed there were already floating barriers in the southeast entrance of the shoal.

“So, from these particular images we can conclude that the Chinese Coast Guard vessel is putting up floating barriers every time we deploy our government vessels whether it’s the Philippine Coast Guard or the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources,” he stressed.

“The moment they monitor that there are Philippine government vessels within the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc that’s the time that they place a floating barrier,” he added.

Tarriela said the CCG vessels 3063 and 3064 are the ones primarily responsible “in laying out the floating barriers” whenever they monitor the presence of the Philippine government vessels in the vicinity of the Bajo de Masinloc.

He noted that both ends of the floating barriers are well-guarded by the CCG personnel.

In September last year, the CCG installed a 300-meter-long floating barrier in the same spot in Bajo de Masinloc, which was discovered by the BFAR’s Datu Bankaw vessel while on a maritime patrol.

Upon receiving reports from PCG, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered the removal of the floating barrier.

Tarriela said the barrier could pose a hazard to navigation and a clear violation of international law.