Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILABULLETIN)

Filipinos' hatred with China's aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) continues to mount, especially with the ramming of the BRP Teresa Magbanua, Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said. 

“The Filipino’s hatred against China on their harassments, bullying and violence against our PCG sailors is continuously rising. And many of our neighbors from Southeast Asia and other countries are feeling the same way. I just hope it won’t hit the boiling point,” Barbers said in a statement Sunday, Sept. 1. 

A day earlier, on Aug. 31, China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels surrounded and rammed the Philippine Coast Guard's (PCG) flagship vessel at the vicinity of Escoda Shoal. 

The collisions punched a hole in the Teresa Magbanua’s hull and caused other damage. It was the seventh scuffle between the PCG and CCG in the month of August. 

The Sabina Shoal--located 140 kilometers west of Palawan, and about 1,200 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass--is the rendezvous point for Philippine resupply missions to the garrison on Second Thomas Shoal where the deliberately ran aground BRP Sierra Madre and Filipino troops are stationed. 

READ THIS: 

https://mb.com.ph/2024/9/1/our-patience-is-being-tested-romualdez-says-stronger-measures-needed-after-ramming-of-brp-teresa-magbanua


“While our PCG still practices maximum tolerance, we should all stand our ground against the [CCG]s brazen bullying and violence against our sailors guarding our territory and protecting our sovereignty at the WPS,” he said. 

Barbers also slammed China’s adoption of consistent lies from past to present that the PCG had deliberately run into a CCG vessel, despite reels of video recordings that run counter to the Chinese narratives on the incident. 

The repeated confrontations between the PCG and CCG at the WPS has prompted Manila to brand Beijing as the "biggest disruptor" to peace in Southeast Asia at a defence conference in Thailand last month. 

Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, the pathway for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.