China 'not in control' of Escoda Shoal — military

The Chinese vessels are still present at the disputed Escoda (Sabina) Shoal, despite their reduced presence in the area. However, a military official emphasized that "Beijing has never been in control of the shoal."

During a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Philippine Navy in the West Philippine Sea highlighted the decrease in the number of Chinese vessels gathering at Escoda Shoal. This decrease was observed after the Philippine Coast Guard vessel, BRP Teresa Magbanua, was withdrawn from the area on 14 September.

According to Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Escoda Shoal is being swarmed by nine China Coast Guard vessels, four People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels, and 52 Chinese Maritime Militia vessels—a total of 65 ships as of 16 September—higher than the recorded 68 vessels in the past week.  

Trinidad said this huge Chinese presence doesn't mean that Beijing is in control of the country's territory. 

“They have never been in control. Their presence there is illegal. We will continue performing our mandate. We will not be deterred,” Trinidad told reporters.

In total, the Philippine Navy has monitored 157 Chinese ships swarming in the entire WPS for the past week, significantly declining compared to 207 logged from 3 to 9 September. 

“If you notice the decrease is more on the features that are in the northern part of the Kalayaan Island group, which is the area more affected by the weather disturbance—so we could attribute this to the weather,” he said. 

Trinidad said they have not monitored an increase in reclamation activities from the foreign actors in Escoda Shoal as the military continues to conduct maritime patrols and air surveillance in the WPS. 

“So far, there's been no marked increase in the pilot of trash corals—meaning to say, for the period covered, we have not monitored any man-made activity that would have been responsible for that,” he said.

Trinidad emphasized that Magbanua’s deployment in the shoal on 18 April was due to supposed foreign reclamation in the area. 

“The emphasis on Escoda started early this year when there were speculations that the height of Escoda shore above the sea level has been increasing,” he pointed out. 

“There were moves to check if this was all done by tidal action or man-made activities. Hence, the increased attention given to that particular shoal,” he added. 

Trinidad said there was no reclamation that has been done “since Teresa Magbanua has been there and maybe a month or two before when we gave more attention to Escoda shoal.” 

“It's not yet conclusive, but for the period covered we could say that no man-made activity to pile up crashed corals has been monitored. Most likely, this could have been done by tidal action,” he pressed on. 

Further, Trinidad said the military would sustain maritime patrols and air surveillance in Escoda amid Magbanua’s pullout. 

The National Maritime Council earlier said the Magbanua’s replacement was on its way to the disputed shoal. 

Escoda is located 75 nautical miles from mainland Palawan and falls within the country’s exclusive economic zone.