The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) clarified that Philippine vessels were not intercepted by Chinese ships in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough or Panatag Shoal) on Monday, March 24, contrary to reports that surfaced online.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS), said PCG and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels were delivering fuel subsidies to fishermen around 30 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc (BDM).
“The reason why those BFAR vessels are in stationary is because we have been delivering fuel subsidies to the 26 Filipino fishing boats that are present in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc,” Tarriela told reporters in an online briefing late Monday.
Earlier in the day, American maritime security analyst Ray Powell said in his X account that two PCG vessels and a BFAR ship were intercepted by two China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels while a third CCG ship and six maritime militia boats set up blocking positions.
“The reason why Mr. Ray Powell cannot monitor the entire operation [is] because he's just basing on the movement of AIS [automatic identification system],” Tarriela explained.
“The reason why the Philippine Coast Guard vessels, together with BFAR vessels, stopped from that position is because nandoon ang mga Filipino fishing boats (the Filipino fishing boats are there). So as we speak right now, those BFAR vessels are still giving away fuel subsidy to those Filipino fishing boats,” he added.
Prior to this, Tarriela said the PCG and BFAR conducted a maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight (MDA) using a BFAR aircraft around 30 nautical miles southeast of BDM at 9:40 a.m.
The BFAR aircraft monitored the presence of two PCG vessels, BRP Bagacay and BRP Cabra; four BFAR ships namely BRP Datu Tamblot, BRP Datu Sumikad, BRP Datu Balensusa, and BRP Datu Pagbuwaya; and 26 Filipino fishing boats in BDM.
Meanwhile, the BFAR aircraft also spotted a People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) warship with bow number “574”; five China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels with bow numbers “5205”, “5201”, “5303”, “3301”, and “5203”; and at least four Chinese maritime militia boats in the shoal.
A PLA-N Chinese helicopter was also deployed at a distance of three miles away from the BFAR aircraft to challenge the MDA.
“Surprisingly, it didn't come close. It maintained a distance of three miles away from the position of the BFAR aircraft,” Tarriela said.
This was a notable improvement compared to the Feb. 18 MDA where a PLA-N Harbin Z-9 helicopter flew dangerously close as three meters or less than 10 feet from the BFAR aircraft.
“I would like to believe that the PLA Navy helicopter has already learned from the backlash of the condemnation at the international community that what they did is reckless and dangerous. I would also like to believe that such action was already called out by their headquarters considering that it didn't just endanger the lives of the Filipino crew and the Filipino passenger onboard the BFAR aircraft last month but it also endangered their own lives,” Tarriela said.
The PCG and BFAR ships also did not experience harassment from the PLA-N warship, CCG vessel, and Chinese maritime militia boats, the commodore added.
“But what is worth noting is the Chinese maritime militia vessels that are inside Bajo de Masinloc installed once again a floating barrier. As what we have mentioned for so many times already, this is one of their precautionary measures to make sure na hindi makakapasok ang Filipino fishing boats sa loob ng Bajo de Masinloc (that Filipino fishing boats will not be able to enter inside Bajo de Masinloc),” he noted.
According to Tarriela, the PCG and BFAR have begun distributing fuel subsidies to fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc since 2022.
Bajo de Masinloc is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, well within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines, but China claims it as part of its territory.