The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Monday vehemently denied China’s claim that a Philippine vessel was expelled from waters near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), asserting that Filipino forces remain in the area despite what they called the Chinese Coast Guard’s (CCG) “intentional” ramming and water cannon attacks.
PCG spokesperson for the WPS, Commodore Jay Tarriela, detailed a series of “hostile actions” that occurred Sunday, just 1.6 to 1.8 nautical miles from Pag-asa Island, which lies well within the Philippines’ territorial waters.
“I don’t think that they expelled the Philippine vessels,” Tarriela said.
“The mere fact that we never departed Pag-asa right after the incidents, and how can they claim that they expelled, as I said, the presence of the Coast Guard, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, remains to be in Pag-asa,” he added.
Tarriela confirmed that three vessels from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) — BRP Datu Pagbuaya, BRP Datu Bankaw and BRP Datu Daya — were targeted while on a mission to Escoda Shoal to support Filipino fishermen.
The most severe incident occurred at 8:50 a.m. Sunday when the CCG vessel 21559 fired high-pressure water cannons at all three BFAR ships. Shortly afterward, the CCG vessel intentionally rammed the BRP Datu Pagbuaya.
Tarriela disclosed that the BFAR vessel sustained minor damage, including damaged stanchions and wreckage on its deck, but its seaworthiness was not compromised thanks to the commanding officer’s seamanship.
The aggressive actions were taken near waters that the China Coast Guard, in a video released Sunday afternoon, referred to as adjacent to Tiexian Jiao, claiming they had “expelled” a Philippine vessel that had “illegally intruded” into China’s claimed territory.
Tarriela rejected the claim, stressing that the recent incident marks the closest approach of CCG vessels to Pag-asa Island in recent history and demonstrates escalating aggression by both the Chinese maritime militia and the CCG, which he said act as a “tag team” in their dangerous maneuvers.
During the confrontation, the PCG also documented a helicopter from the Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army Navy 533 flying over the territorial airspace of Pag-asa Island.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis Pangilinan condemned the “illegal and reckless” actions, calling the ramming and water cannon attack a “brazen act of aggression” and a deliberate assault on Philippine sovereignty.
Pangilinan pledged to push for greater funding for the PCG and BFAR during budget deliberations and called on China to respect the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated its expansive claims in the South China Sea.