The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), conducting a marine scientific survey on Friday in Sandy Cay, encountered harassment from the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

In a news forum on Saturday, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the BFAR vessel was on a mission to collect sand samples from Sand Cays 2 and 3. The mission was accompanied by the PCG in Pag-asa Island.

During the survey, three CCG vessels — identified as 4106, 5103, and 4202— performed dangerous maneuvers against the BFAR vessels BRP Datu Pagbuaya and BRP Datu Bankaw. However, BFAR personnel were able to prevent a collision.

As the BFAR deployed smaller boats to ferry personnel to Sandy Cays 2 and 3, the CCG launched four of their own small boats in an attempt to block the rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) from reaching their destination.

In addition to the CCG’s smaller boats, the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) deployed a helicopter with tail number 24, which hovered at a “very unsafe” altitude over the BFAR RHIB. The low altitude of the aircraft created a hazardous “propeller wash.”

“If they blatantly disregarded the safety of our personnel because of its low altitude, it created hazardous condition for those personnel onboard the RHIB because of the propeller wash,” Tarriela said.

Due to the hazardous environment, the BFAR canceled its journey to Sandy Cays.

Tarriela explained that the BFAR conducts quarterly sand sampling at Sand Cays 1 to 4 for research management, investigation, and other scientific purposes. He added that reports of the incident would be escalated to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS).

During the low-altitude hover of the PLAN helicopter, the aircraft reportedly told the BFAR to vacate the area, citing China’s “total jurisdiction” over the waters. The BFAR responded by radioing the dangerous maneuvers the helicopter was making.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stated that it would continue filing diplomatic protests over these incidents.

“Usually, we file diplomatic protests weekly,” DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said.

He emphasized the importance of filing diplomatic protests.

“It shows to the international community that we have not abandoned our rights. It’s not just a matter of telling China don’t do it, but always asserting our sovereign rights because if you suddenly stop doing it and then it takes a long time that we don’t do it, it could be interpreted to mean we are weakening in our position,” de Vega stressed.