The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is planning to put up markers that will symbolize the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as China reportedly maintains a “massive” scale of militia force in the disputed water.
“That is a continuing effort of the Coast Guard. the creation of Task Force Kaligtasan sa Karagatan, its operations will be all over the country. Before we have put up five buoy markers in the West Philippine Sea in Kalayaan (Spratly) Islands,” Adm. Artemio Abu, PCG Commandant, said Monday, Dec. 12.
The PCG’s Task Force Kaligtasan sa Karagatan was activated in 2021 to enforce laws and regulations relevant to the promotion of safety of life and property at sea within the Philippine maritime jurisdiction. In May this year, the task force had installed five floating markers in Philippine-held detachments in the Kalayaan Island Group to serve as sovereignty markers.
“We will go back there. We are identifying critical areas where our countrymen will need some sort of guide for their safety. Those are the markers that we will be installing through the Task Force Kaligtasan sa Karagatan,” he added.
Abu made the remarks during the arrival of BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301) in Manila after a 15-day mission in Batanes. The team installed four new navigational lanterns in the municipalities of Sabtang, Ivana, Mahatao, and Valanga.
The lighthouses were put up to serve as guide for motorbancas and vessels to ensure their safe passage and entry to ports and harbors, and to warn fishermen and seafarers about Batanes’ shallow and perilous rocky coasts.
“It is part of the coastal state administration of our country. We really need to put up more light stations as sovereign markers not only in the north all over the country,” Abu said.
“We really need that so it is in our pipeline,” he added.
Shackles in Kalayaan
The planned installation of more sovereignty markers, particularly in the WPS, is deemed crucial after a United States-based think tank reported that hundreds of Chinese militia vessels continue to operate in the Kalayaan Island Group, even showing a “marked consistency in their movement and behavior patterns despite outcries from other claimants.”
In a report released by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) last Dec. 9, it said that it analyzed satellite imagery from Sept. 2021 to Sept. 2022 which revealed that there was a “massive scale” of Chinese militia force in the Kalayaan Island Group, parts of which are being claimed by the Philippines, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brunei.
“Militia continue to mass around Whitsun and Hughes Reefs in Union Banks and maintain a persistent presence at other key features, such as Philippine-occupied Thitu (Pagasa) Island,” it said.
“The total count of militia vessels deployed to the Spratly Islands and in port peaked at 400 in early July,” it added.
The group also noticed a distinct behavior of the militia vessels: most of them go home for the holidays. They said the number of militia vessels deployed in the Spratly Islands dropped from 128 to 12 in Dec 2021, but shot up again in mid-February 2022 to 170.
The group observed that the pattern will continue “for a foreseeable future” and it has become the “new normal” in such part of the region.
Maritime expert Jay Batongbacal said that this tactic could be used to prevent Filipino fishermen from going into their traditional fishing grounds or intercept the Coast Guard or the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)’s maritime operations in the WPS.
“China’s presence / pseudo-occupation of low tide elevations and reefs are deliberately intended to discourage PH fishers from returning to their fishing grounds in the PH EEZ , and actively deny the latter access through blocking and threats of ramming if they approach,” he said.
“In addition, from these locations, CMM vessels can move to block Philippine government vessels on their way from Palawan to the Philippine outposts on Lawak and Patag Islands, and Ayungin Shoal, or petroleum exploration vessels operating in nearby service contract areas,” he added.