By MARTIN A. SADONGDONG
Despite the conduct of a bilateral consultation meeting (BCM) between the Philippines and China, the Philippine Navy (PN) has yet to observe a concrete proof of de-escalation of tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, PN spokesperson for WPS, said the only indicator that tension is slowly easing is the decreasing number of Chinese vessels operating in the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“We are monitoring continuously the number of ships in the West Philippine Sea. Based on the numbers for the past one month, we have seen a decrease,” Trinidad said. "If ever this is related to the BCM talks, it remains to be seen."
“Apart from that, we haven’t seen any other activity that would indicate changes in the behavior of the People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N), China Coast Guard (CCG), and Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMVs),” he added.
On July 2, the 9th Philippine-China Bilateral Consultation Mechanism meeting was co-chaired by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Maria Theresa P. Lazaro and Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Chen Xiaodong in Manila in hopes of defusing the flaring tension over the two countries’ territorial dispute in the South China Sea (SCS).
In the same meeting, Manila and Beijing reportedly signed the "Arrangement on Improving Philippines-China Maritime Communication Mechanisms" which elevates the communication mechanism between the two countries on SCS matters to their presidential offices and foreign ministries.
Th BCM followed the violent June 17 resupply mission in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal where an elite Filipino navy trooper lost his thumb after a CCG boat rammed an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) boat.
Records from the AFP showed that the number of Chinese vessels which operate in the WPS fluctuated after the said resupply mission.
From June 18 to 24, there were a total of 129 China Coast Guard (CCG), People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N), and Chinese maritime militia vessels (CMMVs) in the WPS.
This declined in the following week after the AFP spotted 95 Chinese vessels from June 25 to July 1.
The decline was sustained from July 2 to 8, the same week that the BCM was held, after the AFP logged 94 Chinese vessels.
However, the number increased last week as there were 104 Chinese vessels in the WPS from July 9 to 15.
Trinidad said that whether China is committed or not to de-escalate the tension will be revealed when the next resupply mission is carried out.
“We will know about this in the next RORE [rotation and resupply] but for now, our basis for our assessment is the number of ships that we monitored,” he noted while refusing to divulge the details of the next resupply mission.
'Monster' ship still in WPS
In a related development, CCG vessel "5901", nicknamed "The Monster" as it is regarded as the biggest coast guard ship in the world, remained to be operating in the WPS, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
PCG spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said that CCG vessel 5901 was anchored near Escoda (Sabina) Shoal at 7:36 a.m. on Wednesday, July 17.
PCG ship BRP Sierra Madre (MRRV-9701), which ahs been deployed in Escoda Shoal for more than two months already to guard against suspected Chinese reclamation activiies, spotted the CCG ship, Tarriela said.
"The CCGV 5901 was approximately 638 yards away from the port quarter of MRRV-9701," Tarriela said.