The Philippines reserves its right to deploy military ships in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) despite the positioning of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels in the area, National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said Thursday.

This, after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported on Wednesday that the China Coast Guard (CCG), in tandem with Chinese military vessels, had “simultaneously shadowed, blocked, and maneuvered dangerously” against Philippine vessels near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal).

In a televised interview, Malaya said the government views these Chinese actions as a “provocation and escalatory move” by Beijing.

Malaya lamented that, for the first time, a Chinese gray ship was involved in an intense confrontation with Philippine vessels.

“We took note of that, and we consider that a steep escalation on the part of the People's Republic of China because, as you very well know, in the past, PLAN ships were also in the area, but they were just on the horizon—they would not do dangerous maneuvers against our Philippine vessels,” Malaya remarked.

He noted that the PLAN’s recent actions against Philippine vessels in Scarborough were a significant departure from their usual activities.

“In this case, the BRP Teresa Magbanua faced blocking and shadowing and dangerous maneuvers from a PLAN warship… at a close distance of 300 yards,” he stressed.

“So the National Security Council considered this a provocation and an escalatory move on the part of the People's Republic of China, and the Philippines reserves the right to also send our Philippine Navy ships moving forward,” he further noted.

Despite this, Malaya said the Philippines will not resort to provocations in the WPS.

“We do not want to be sending signals to China that they can do what they want simply because we do not want to escalate. No, it is they who first deployed the PLAN ship, therefore, it is also within the right of the Philippines, and we reserve that right to deploy our Philippine Navy ships in the future,” he stressed.

Malaya criticized China’s use of its warship against Manila’s civilian mission in the WPS.

“In this case, the PRC decided to utilize the PLAN ship in blocking a civilian ship of the Philippines—so we are alarmed by this development,” he said.

“And as I said, we reserve the right to deploy our Philippine Navy ships as well because it's unfair; it's unequal if a civilian ship is facing a warship of the People's Republic of China,” he further noted.

Malaya pointed out that the country’s strategic operations in the WPS may change over time in response to Beijing’s evolving tactics to assert its overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

“We've always considered this a civilian mission, and we did not utilize a gray ship in resupplying our Filipino fishermen, but China also changed tacks, and it might be considered as cowardice on the part of Beijing if we do not do anything,” he explained.

“So, in that vein, the Philippine government reserves the right to deploy our Philippine Navy ships at the time and circumstance of our choosing,” he added.