The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has made its presence more felt in the West Philippine Sea following the continuous incidents of alleged harassments on local fishermen and government’s maritime and naval vessels in the area.
Coast Guard Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG adviser of the commandant for maritime security and PCG spokesman for West Philippine Sea, said this is done through regular maritime patrol and maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight.
Such activities, according to Tarriela, provide information and other details about the presence of foreign vessels inside the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), especially in the West Philippine Sea.
“We are intensifying our presence there. In fact, there was a follow-up on our maritime patrols through our MDA flight to confirm the presence of China Coast Guard and the current development at the Ayungin Shoal is that we found out there was a new China Coast Guard (5304) vessel that replaced the China Coast Guard 5205,” said Tarriela.
It was the personnel of the China Coast Guard 5205 that was reported to have used a military-grade laser on a PCG vessel on Feb. 6.
The incident prompted the Philippine government to file a diplomatic protest and President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. to summon the Chinese ambassador to the Philippines.
The presence of another China Coast Guard vessel was confirmed through an MDA flight using its Cessna Caravan 2081 (Multi-role Fixed Wing Aircraft) over Ayungin and Sabina Shoals.
Aside from the China Coast Guard vessel, the MDA flight also confirmed the presence of 26 alleged Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) vessels near the Sabina Shoal and four more CMM vessels near the Ayungin Shoal.
Challenged
The National Task Force on West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), through a statement released by the PCG, said the PCG’s Cessna Caravan 2081 received radio challenge during the flight on Feb. 21.
“As PCG Cessna Caravan 2081 approached the airspace over Sabina Shoal it received inaudible radio challenges, both in English and Chinese, from CCG-5304 currently continuing to maintain presence in the area,” the statement read.
“The PCG aircraft issued its own radio challenge emphasizing that it is conducting MDA flight within airspace over the Philippine EEZ and directing CCG-5304 to leave the area immediately,” it added.
Over the Ayungin Shoal, the NTF-WPS said the PCG plane received another radio challenge from the same China Coast Guard vessel.
“The PCG aircraft responded by repeating that it was conducting MDA flight in airspace within Philippine EEZ and again challenged CCG-5304 to leave the area immediately,” the statement read.
PCG warning
Despite the repeated challenge from the China Coast Guard vessel, the PCG Cessna Caravan 2081's MDA flight continued to issue radio challenges to both CCG vessels and suspected CMM vessels in the area in and around Ayungin and Sabina Shoals.
“Suspected CMM vessels were directed to immediately depart the Philippine EEZ and were warned that they were not authorized to loiter nor swarm these shoals,” the statement added.
PCG pilots also relayed to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel stationed onboard BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) inside Ayunging Shoal its patrol data and observations.
The PCG assured the AFP personnel at the BRP Sierra Madre of support and ready assistance.