Palace: Sovereignty patrols continue in disputed waters

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

There is no standing order from Malacañang preventing the deployment of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels to the West Philippine Sea, the Palace said on Wednesday.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Coast Guard “sovereignty patrols” in the West Philippine Sea continued “in compliance” with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and China in 2002.

Permission required

The Coast Guard, he said, “continues to conduct law enforcement patrols to ensure maritime safety and environmental protection.”

Earlier, Cmdr. Armand Balilo, spokesman for the Coast Guard, said the deployment of Coast Guard patrol boats to the West Philippine Sea “requires the go-ahead of the higher-ups, particularly the Department of Transportation and Communications,” the command’s mother agency.

Balilo was commenting on reports that a Chinese Coast Guard vessel fired a water cannon at eight Filipino fishing boats at Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) to drive them away from the rich fishing ground off the coast of Zambales province.

Chinese seized shoal

Indicating that the Coast Guard could not just come to the Filipino fishermen’s aid, Balilo advised them to take precautionary measures and avoid confrontations with Chinese surveillance ships in the area.

The last time Coast Guard vessels actively operated near Panatag Shoal was in mid-2013.

In 2012, China seized Panatag Shoal, located some 220 kilometers west of the coastal municipality of Masinloc, after a two-month standoff between Philippine Navy and Chinese patrol boats.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) asked China to stop the harassment of Filipino fishermen, after a Chinese vessel rammed three Philippine boats carrying 29 fishermen at Panatag on Jan. 29.

The DFA also accused Chinese fishermen in 24 boats of harvesting endangered giant clams in the area a week earlier.

China defends its actions, insisting it has “undisputed sovereignty” over the South China Sea.

The West Philippine Sea is part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

Malacañang has given the Coast Guard the go-ahead to buy additional multirole vessels and aircraft to improve its operational capability in the West Philippine Sea.

Coloma said the additional equipment would improve the Coast Guard’s capability in dealing with maritime safety and environmental concerns not only in the West Philippine Sea but also in other parts of the country.

Coloma also said the government had directed military pilots to “ignore the aggressiveness of Chinese seacraft” operating in the West Philippine Sea.