Senator Grace Poe has called on the government to act on the reported close distance maneuvering of the Chinese vessel in the West Philippine Sea as she said it poses risk to safety.
Poe in a statement on Monday said the government should "urgently" address the concern made by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which reported on Sunday that a Chinese Coast Guard vessel conducted a close distance maneuvering over an area of about 19.2 meters in the direction of Philippine vessel BRP Malabrigo.
"This constrained the maneuvering space of BRP Malabrigo—a clear violation of the 1972 International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGS)," the PCG said, adding that the incident took place on Mar. 2 but was reported late pending clearance from higher authorities.
The senator said the presence of the Chinese vessel "poses risks to safety of navigation."
It also "impedes on the Filipinos' rights to benefit from marine wealth in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ)," she added.
Lauding the PCG for actively patrolling our waters and for immediately alerting concerned bodies about the incident, Poe said, the agency's call to action "should not be drowned by the frenzy of the political campaign."
This, as Poe believed that China's "intransigence on the West Philippine Sea issue remains real."
"We must not let this pass without raising protest even as we continue to bolster diplomatic initiatives with other foreign nations in asserting sovereignty over our waters," she added.