Malacañang is concerned about the presence of China’s monster ship, a 165-meter long vessel and is the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) biggest ship, in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) even as Manila continues to challenge its position there, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
CCG-5901, a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship nicknamed "The Monster", is detected by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) at 54 nautical miles off the coast of Capones Island in Zambales on Jan. 4, 2025. (PCG photo)
“We view it with concern. So far we have been challenging the presence of that monster ship,” the official told Palace reporters.
“Our Coast Guard has always been alert in following up ‘yung (the) presence of that monster ship, pasulpot-sulpot (it goes there intermittently) and it is within our exclusive economic zone so tsina-challenge ‘yan (that is being challenged),” he added.
Bersamin shared that the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) YouTube channel will also show “many occasions” where it challenged Chinese vessels.
“But it all works in the end kasi nothing confrontational happens. So, maaaring projection ng issue dito (this could be a projection issue) but I am not going to say anything more because that is a matter of operation,” the official stressed.
The monster ship was seen 65 to 70 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales province on Sunday, Jan. 5, the PCG earlier reported.
In a video shared by the PCG, it ordered the Chinese vessel to leave the area, warning it has no authority to operate there.
But the Chinese ship responded that it was conducting law enforcement duties within its jurisdictional waters.
While relations between the Philippines and China continue to sour because of their overlapping territorial and maritime claims, Bersamin said there are current high-level mechanisms being conducted to ensure peace and stability in the region.
The first mechanism, he explained, was the filing of a demarche, a formal diplomatic representation of a government’s position on an issue.
The second mechanism is a “permanent apparatus,” wherein Beijing and Manila alternately hosting a vice-ministerial-level conference to address the peaceful settlement of dispute in the West Philippine Sea.