No water cannon tit for tat — BBM

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday thumbed down proposals to equip Philippine vessels patrolling the West Philippine Sea (WPS) with water cannons amid the ongoing maritime tension with China in the contested region.

“What we are doing is defending our sovereign rights and sovereignty in the WPS. We have no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other such offensive,” Marcos said. “We have to call them weapons because they can cause damage so, no, that is not something that’s in the plan.”

Authorities said last week that the water cannon attack carried out by China at Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, had damaged Philippine vessels transporting food and fuel to fishermen in the area.

In response to the recent Chinese aggression, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Senator Robin Padilla proposed using water cannons to counter China’s attacks.

Marcos stressed that raising tensions is not part of the Philippine Navy or Coast Guard’s mission and underscored that diplomatic efforts are being pursued to resolve the maritime incidents.

“The last thing we would want is to raise tensions in the WPS. And that would certainly do that, so we will not do it. We will not follow the Chinese Coast Guard and the Chinese vessels down that road because it’s simply not the mission of our Navy, our Coast Guard to start or increase tensions. Their mission is precisely the opposite, to lower tensions,” he said.

“That’s why all we do when those incidents happen, we send demarches, we send letters to China and other stakeholders,” he said, emphasizing that adding water cannons to Philippine vessels would be “the opposite of what we are trying to achieve.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) summoned Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong after the most recent water cannon incident at Scarborough Shoal.

In its protest, the DFA condemned the “harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing, blocking, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia against Philippine vessels.”

The department also “demanded that the Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately.”

China asserts its claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, a vital route for over $3 trillion in annual ship-borne trade, including areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that China’s claim had no legal basis. Beijing, however, has refused to recognize the ruling.