China's deliberate hit on a civilian Philippine supply boat carrying the top Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) official during the latest resupply mission in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is not considered an act of war, according to a government task force.
However, the National Task Force for West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said that the China Coast Guard (CCG) ship's (bow number 21556) dangerous maneuvers which ended in the ramming of Unaizah Mae 1 while Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. was onboard during a Dec. 10 resupply mission in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal was a "serious escalation" of hostile activities on the part of China.
"The Filipino people and the whole world know and has seen that the incidents in the past two days [are] serious escalation on the part of the People’s Republic of China," NTF-WPS spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said.
"But is this an act of war? We don’t think so. This is just part of a cat-and-mouse game that China seems to be utilizing to further its own interests," he added.
To recall, the AFP chartered two civilian supply boats -- Unaizah Mae 1 and M/L Kalayaan -- for the resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal on Dec. 10. The boats were escorted by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships BRP Cabra and BRP sindangan.
Brawner joined the trip and boarded Unaizah Mae 1 to personally experience the aggression by China against Philippine vessels right within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines, and he did.
CCG vessels doused the four Philippine vessels using a water cannon as they performed dangerous maneuvers by shadowing and cutting their bow and starboard, according to the NTF-WPS.
The NTF-WPS noted that the ramming and use of water cannon by Chinese maritime forces on the Philippine boats and ships has resulted to significant damage to the latter's vessels.
"The actions they have shown in the past few days really have shown a desire on the part of China to escalate situations primarily because there has been significant damage to Philippine vessels in terms of navigation equipment, communication equipment, and engine so we are taking this seriously," Malaya said.
For AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar, the military treats the incident as a "regular" RoRe (rotation and reprovision) mission despite the danger posed by the ramming on Brawner's life.
"It's not for us to declare that [act of war]," he said.
Aguilar said a soldier is mandated by the law to protect the country and its people from any threat and uphold its sovereignty, this time through the resupply mission for troops guarding BRP Sierra Madre, no matter what danger lies ahead.
"These are sacrifices that our soldiers have to perform," he noted.
Under the Philippine Constitution, the Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, and adopts the generally accepted principles of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations.