The Philippine Coast Guard has monitored the presence of China’s navy vessel being operated by the People’s Liberation Army for the time in the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.
PCG spokesperson for WPS, Commodore Jay Tarriela, said the PLA Navy vessel was monitored during the maritime patrol of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ BRP Datu Tamblot vessel earlier this week.
“The first time that we monitored the presence of the PLA Navy it only had a distance of around 28 nautical miles when the BFAR arrived at Bajo de Masinloc and then eventually it came close to a distance of 18 nautical miles from the southeast of Bajo de Masinloc,” he noted.
He, however, stressed that China’s PLA navy vessel never entered a distance of 12 nautical miles—the country’s territorial sea in the area.
“I’m not really sure whether they choose not to enter the territorial sea of Bajo de Masinloc, but as far as our monitoring is concerned, they stopped at a distance of only 18 nautical miles,” he said.
Tarriela likewise confirmed the presence of four China Coast Guard vessel vessels—the 3063, 3064, 3302, and 3105 in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinoloc during the patrol.
He said that the CCG vessels 3302 and 3105 were the ones that carried out dangerous maneuvers to prevent the BFAR vessels from entering the shoal.
He added these were the same vessels that previously prevented the PCG vessel from getting near Bajo de Masinloc during its past mission.
The CCG vessel 3105 is also equipped with a drone, which took visuals of BFAR’s vessel while on patrol operations.
Also, Tarriela said the PCG has documented four Chinese Maritime Militia vessels “actively participated” in CCG’s blocking and carrying out dangerous maneuvers against the BFAR vessel.
He added the Philippine vessels were subjected to shadowing and dangerous maneuvers by the PLA Navy, CCG, and CMM.
The CCG radio challenged Philippine vessels 25 times.
“All of those 25 instances that we were challenged through a radio, the commanding officer and the pilot of the aircraft has also responded and challenged the presence of these Chinese maritime forces as well,” Tarriela said.
Despite the challenges, Tarriela said the rotational deployment of government vessels is “here to stay.”
Tarriela maintained that the presence of PCG and BFAR in Bajo de Masinloc is not meant to “provoke anybody” nor to escalate tension in the WPS.
“Our objective here is to protect the Filipino fishermen. To make sure na ang mga Pilipinong mangingisda ay makakapangisda sa (that Filipino fisherfolk can continue fishing at the) Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.
He lamented that whether the government will be active in conducting rotational deployment or not, “there are always China Coast Guard vessels” in Bajo de Masinloc.