A Philippine Navy official confirmed that Chinese vessels fired water cannons at two Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels conducting a resupply mission at Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on Tuesday morning.

In a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) received the information only that morning.

“Because of that, we would like to politely defer to the BFAR for their official statement on the issue,” Trinidad said.

But Trinidad noted that the AFP was closely coordinating with the Philippine Coast and BFAR in ensuring that the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea were protected.

“Tactical details to implement that coordination are at the unified command level,” he said.

Trinidad said the AFP is keen on promoting the rules-based order in the WPS despite China’s provocation.

He noted that measures were in place to ensure that the country would be able to uphold its sovereignty in its territorial waters.

“We have involved the entire AFP in implementing the CADC (Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept) mentioned by our Secretary of National Defense. If you noticed, many our capital ships are now in the West Philippine Sea. We have AFP troops — Navy, Air Force, and Army on Pagasa Island. The orientation right now of the entire AFP is external,” he said.

On Tuesday, two BFAR vessels — the BRP Datu Cabaylo and the BRP Datu Sanday — were conducting a routine resupply mission to Filipino fisherfolk in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc when three China Coast Guard ships and a PLA-Navy vessel approached them.

The Chinese ships started to shadow the Datu Cabaylo and the Datu Sanday while they were sailing within Philippine waters.

In a statement, the BFAR said the “CCG vessels attempted to impede” the BFAR’s mission by blocking the Philippine boats “but were unsuccessful.”

The CCG vessels then started to fire their water cannons at the BFAR vessels. However, the water from the cannons failed to reach the BFAR boats.

“Notwithstanding the dangerous maneuvers and firing of water cannons, both BFAR vessels were able to resupply the Filipino fisherfolk at Bajo de Masinloc,” the BFAR said.