Maritime and aerial patrols in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) will be stepped up by the government to counter China’s recent swarming at Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal in the southern part of Recto Bank, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) revealed on Sunday, July 9.
(Photo: Western Command, Armed Forces of the Philippines)
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for WPS, said that the 48 Chinese fishing vessels monitored at Iroquois Reef, and three China Coast Guard (CCG) ships and two People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels seen at Sabina Shoal during aerial patrols last June 30 were still staying in the areas within the Philippine territory.
“Based on our last monitoring report, the Chinese maritime militia stays on that area. The Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for this coming week will be intensifying our patrols to make sure that they will leave,” Tarriela said in a radio interview with dzBB.
The PCG will deploy two Coast Guard vessels to drive away the Chinese maritime militia from Iroquois Reef, and challenge the CCG and PLA Navy vessels at Sabina Shoal.
According to Tarriela, swarming is a strategy by China if it wants to “occupy” a particular maritime feature.
“That’s their usual strategic object, that, is for them to occupy a particular feature to swarm the area for a very long period of time. Kung hindi mo sila mapapansin (If you fail to notice them), they will increase their number eventually,” he explained.
The AFP and PCG already expressed alarm on the swarming of Chinese vessels at Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal, which are located at approximately 237 kilometers (128 nautical miles) and 133 kilometers (72 nautical miles) from Palawan.
But to counter such strategy, the PCG started to openly publicize China’s activities in the WPS.
“The objective of the government is to create public awareness for the Filipino people and to get support from the international community,” Tarriela noted.
“After we publicize this, we are hoping that once we deploy our PCG vessels, they (China) will be able to comply by pulling out [the vessels] and stop the swarming at Iroquois Reef,” he added.
In 2016, the Philippines won an arbitration case against China over the latter’s excessive claims in the South China Sea, including the WPS. Despite this, Beijing continues to flex its might and ignore the ruling which had invalidated its claims in the tense waters.