“Any act of violence against Filipino personnel is unacceptable and will merit the appropriate diplomatic action,” the DFA said.
The United States also denounced what it called China’s “dangerous and aggressive actions” against Philippine personnel at Ayungin Shoal.
“China’s troubling pattern of provocation against lawful Philippine maritime operations undermines regional peace and stability,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said.
Provocation
The statement came US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in Manila for meetings with Association of Southeast Asian Nations foreign ministers.
The AFP rejected China’s claim that Filipino troops provoked Monday’s confrontation near the BRP Sierra Madre, saying Beijing released only a spliced video to justify what it described as China’s unlawful intrusion.
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the footage itself showed the Chinese vessel approaching the Philippine outpost.
“If you begin from the start, you will see that their boat moved very close to the BRP Sierra Madre. That alone incriminates them. It clearly shows they were the ones who approached,” Trinidad said.
He said Philippine rubber boats merely attempted to drive away the Chinese vessel in accordance with military rules of engagement.
“Our rubber boats were sent to drive them away. It was not confrontational but defensive in nature. They provoked the incident by approaching us,” he said.
Boat rammed
The AFP said a China Coast Guard crew ignored repeated warnings to leave before one of its personnel struck a Philippine sailor on the head with a wooden baton, injuring him and damaging a Navy rubber boat.
China, however, insisted Philippine personnel rammed its patrol boat and attacked its crew.
At the House of Representatives, lawmakers condemned the assault and called for a stronger response.
Rep. Karl Fernandez Legaspi said no Filipino serviceman should suffer violence “for simply doing his duty of protecting our country’s sovereign rights.”
Akbayan Rep. Dadah Ismula urged Marcos to expel China’s ambassador, accusing Beijing of acting “like pirates and bandits in our own seas.”
Rep. Leila de Lima likewise dismissed China’s account.
“China is once again twisting the narrative even though it is the one intruding into our territory,” she said.
UNCLOS
China claims most of the South China Sea through its “nine-dash line,” overlapping the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
In 2016, an arbitral tribunal constituted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea ruled that China’s sweeping maritime claims had no legal basis and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights within its EEZ.
The latest clash followed a string of confrontations at Ayungin Shoal.
On 17 June 2024, China Coast Guard personnel rammed Philippine boats, boarded Navy craft, seized equipment and seriously injured a Filipino sailor, who lost his thumb.
