Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, chairman of House committee on strategic intelligence, on Sunday told the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to prepare to fight back against China’s water cannon should a scheduled offshore gas drilling activity in the Recto Bank escalate into tension.
In a statement, Pimentel asserted that “if and when China Coast Guard vessels fire their water cannons to harass the drilling activities,” the PCG boats “should be ready to fight back with their water cannons.”
“The Vietnam Coast Guard does this all the time. They exchange water cannon sprays with the China Coast Guard,” he said.
Pimentel’s call came as Forum Energy Ltd., operator of petroleum Service Contract 72 in the Recto Bank, is set to drill two deep-water appraisal wells in the Sampaguita gas discovery before Oct. 16, 2022.
“We expect the PCG to deploy its lead ship around Recto Bank for defensive purposes to secure the drilling activities,” he said, referring to 84-meter, French-built offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang.
Pimental made the call as he recalled what transpired in 2011 when the M/V Veritas Voyager—the Singaporean research vessel chartered by Forum to conduct a survey of Sampaguita—was bullied and driven away by two China Marine Surveillance (CMS) ships.
Citing the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) records of the 2011 incident, Pimentel’s iffice said CMS ships Zhongguo 71 and 75 hounded and then ordered the Veritas Voyager to leave Recto Bank, forcing Forum to discontinue its survey.
Five years later, it added, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled that China violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights when the CMS ships operated “in relation to M/V Veritas Voyager.”
Despite the ruling, three China Coast Guard vessels water cannoned last month two Filipino civilian boats on their way to resupply the Philippine Marine detachment at the obsolete BRP Sierra Madre, Pimental’s office lamented.