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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Chinese Coast Guard fires water cannon, sideswipes BFAR vessel in Pagasa Cays

Chinese Coast Guard fires water cannon, sideswipes BFAR vessel in Pagasa Cays

Published May 22, 2025 05:27 pm

At A Glance

  • Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea, said the incident happened while marine scientists on board the two BFAR vessels were conducting marine scientific research at the Pagasa Cay 2, or the Sandy Cay.
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel is seen firing water cannon on a BFAR vessel in the area of Pagasa Cays on Thursday morning, May 22, 2025
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel is seen firing water cannon on a BFAR vessel in the area of Pagasa Cays on Thursday morning, May 22, 2025

A Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ship fired water cannon and sideswiped a vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) at the Pagasa Cay 2 in the West Philippine Sea on Thursday morning, an official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea, said the incident happened while marine scientists on board the two BFAR vessels were conducting marine scientific research at the Pagasa Cay 2, or the Sandy Cay.

Sandy Cay is located less than three nautical miles from Pagasa Island.

The BFAR report stated that its vessels deployed in the area for research were the BRP Datu Sanday and BRP Datu Pagbuaya.

At around 9:30 a.m., the BFAR report said a CCG vessel 21559 fired a water cannon and sideswiped the BRP Datu Sanday twice.

The incident, it said, resulted in some damage to the port bow and smokestack.

“This is the first time that a Philippine vessel from the BFAR experienced water cannon inside the territorial sea of Pagasa while conducting marine scientific research,” said Tarriela.

Tarriela said there were actually two Chinese Coast Guard vessels in the area but only one of them engaged in the harassment of the BFAR vessel. 

He added that while there were Chinese maritime militia vessels in the area, only two of them appeared to be supporting the harassment.

Tarriela noted that China has been very aggressive when it comes to Pagasa cays. Early this year, it deployed a military chopper to harass BFAR vessels also near the area.  

Despite what happened, Tarriela said the Philippine government will not stop from sending marine scientists to the area to collect sands, check the marine environment and conduct various studies.

“We have sovereignty over these waters and despite their harassments and bullying, it will not stop us in doing these operations,” said Tarriela.

China has been flexing its muscles in the West Philippine Sea despite a ruling from the UN tribunal that rejected its claims in almost the entire South China Sea. 

These harassments became the foundation for the Philippine government to aggressively pursue the modernization of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

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