Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Tuesday said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has "zero authority" to allow Chinese survey vessel, Jia Geng, to stay in Philippine waters since the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) only gave the ship "emergency shelter" at the behest of the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
(PCOO / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Locsin made this clarification in the wake of reports that Jia Geng anchored off Catanduanes waters for three days - from January 29 to February 1.
“DFA never gave permit to Jia Geng. But for humanitarian considerations, we ok’d Chinese embassy request for shelter against bad weather. The Coast Guard has zero authority to allow it. Only DFA. Not to stay. But seek shelter. Period. P_____ I__,” the DFA secretary said in a tweet.
Locsin recalled that on Thursday, January 28, the Philippine Embassy in Beijing reported a phoned-in request to allow the Chinese marine research vessel to take wind shelter in Cabugao Bay. It was followed by a Note Verbale from the Chinese Embassy in Manila containing the same request.
On Monday, PCG Spokesperson Commodore Armand Balilo said the three-day stay of the Chinese research vessel was a “simple call for help” to avoid danger due to a reported gale warning in the area.
Balilo earlier admitted that a PCG team sent to inspect Jia Geng was barred from boarding the ship because of COVID-19 protocols. The state-owned Chinese vessel entered Philippine waters on January 29 without any permit from the Philippine government.
A day after the ship arrived in Catanduanes waters, Balilo said the DFA informed the PCG that the Chinese Embassy requested for a diplomatic clearance to allow their ship to take shelter, citing “unfavorable weather and sea conditions in the Pacific.”
The Chinese Embassy in Manila, meanwhile, said under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), and international customary law, "every coastal state is obliged to provide necessary humanitarian assistance to save lives at sea."
In a tweet on Jan. 27, the China Maritime Institute of the U.S. Naval War College said the Chinese research vessel was spotted in the vicinity of about 130 nautical miles east of Samar, or within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The PCG said Jia Geng left Cabugao Bay in Bato, Catanduanes at around 6 a.m. on February 1.