A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship intruding the coast of Zambales again attempted to strike a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel that was blocking it repeatedly on Monday, April 7, a ranking official disclosed.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS), said the CCG ship with bow number “3302” continued to engage BRP Cabra in “dangerous maneuvers.”
Throughout Monday afternoon, the 99-meter CCG 3302 “made multiple attempts to ram the aft” (rear or back end) of the 44-meter BRP Cabra, he said.
The crew of BRP Cabra managed to steer the Philippine vessel away from the Chinese ship to avoid a collision.
But the CCG deployed a smaller and faster vessel, CCG-21612, to “further attempt to ram the PCG vessel,” Tarriela noted.
“Despite these aggressive actions, the professionalism, composure, and seamanship of the PCG sailors have successfully outmatched the reckless tactics employed by the two China Coast Guard vessels,” he said.
BRP Cabra continued to shadow and challenge CCG-3302 as it tried to come closer to the coast of Zambales.
On Sunday, CCG 3302 also tried to ram BRP Cabra while the latter was patrolling Capones Island in Zambales.
PCG Commandant, Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan directed the crew to “maintain a high level of professionalism to prevent escalation" while engaging the Chinese ship.
It was in January when the CCG deployed a CCG ship off Zambales’ coast and it has maintained its presence since then.
Tarriela said it might be an attempt by China to “normalize” its presence in the area, which the PCG vowed to challenge.
Nokia wants to support SRDP
Meanwhile, Nokia, a known Finnish multinational company, is interested in supporting the country's Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) Program.
This was revealed during the introductory call of Her Excellency Saija Nurminen, Ambassador of Finland to the Philippines, on Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City last week.
"Ambassador Nurminen conveyed that Finland seeks to cooperate with like-minded countries that uphold a rules-based international order, such as the Philippines. She mentioned that Nokia, a known Finnish multinational company, is interested in supporting the Philippines’ Self-Reliant Defense Posture (SRDP) Program," DND spokesperson Asst. Sec. Arsenio Andolong said.
The SRDP refers to the program that seeks to enable the country to produce weapons, small arms and ammunition, tactical communications equipment, basic land vehicles, and small seacraft using local materials.
This would decrease the dependency of the DND and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on foreign markets and help create a robust local defense sector.
Meanwhile, Teodoro said that Finland's geography and history have cultivated its robust resilience to threat actors within its region. He noted that this has led to Finland's advanced capabilities in securing its defense supply chains.
Teodoro welcomed Nokia's planned support of the SRDP, and said it wold enhance the implementation of the country's Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) in areas relative to defense supply chain management.