RAISE THE FLAG Members of the Philippine Navy plant the Philippine flag on one of four sandbars rising from the sea within the territorial waters of Pag-asa Island, part of the Kalayaan municipality in the West Philippine Sea. China claims the sandbars, sending its coast guard to keep Filipinos away from the emerging islands. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ/FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard on Friday said it has bolstered its presence in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to assist Filipino vessels which would “greatly increase” in the coming weeks.
PCG Commandant Admiral Artemio Abu also noted that the Coast Guard has deployed BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701) — one of its largest maritime assets — to the Kalayaan Island Group since February 2.
“As the summer season draws near, the PCG expects the number of Filipino fishing vessels that sail and fish in the WPS to greatly increase,” the PCG said in a statement.
“As the PCG steadily strengthens and increases its Maritime Patrol, Search and Rescue, and Law Enforcement operations in the WPS, it remains firmly committed to safeguarding Philippine interests and rights within the bounds of international law and conventions,” it added.
Abu said the PCG is prepared to fulfill its mandate in the WPS “despite the danger”.
“Despite the danger in patrolling our waters in the West Philippine Sea, the PCG’s men and women will always be prepared to fulfill our obligations not only to the present but also to the future generations of Filipinos to the fullest!” Abu said.
It can be recalled that on February 6, a PCG vessel was attacked by the Chinese Coast Guard by using a green laser, causing temporary blindness to the crew.
The vessel was supporting a rotation and resupply mission of the Philippine Navy in Ayungin Shoal in the WPS, where the country maintains its presence through the BRP Sierra Madre, a commissioned vessel that hosted a small contingent of military personnel to assert the country’s claim to the disputed waters since 1999.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the WPS.
But in 2016, the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea.