MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese militia vessels found near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are not responding to the challenges and warnings issued by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
This was revealed by PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela following the reported presence of a People’s Liberation (PLA) Navy vessel, China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, and Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels.
“Ang Coast Guard station natin sa Pag-asa ay patuloy pong tsina-challenge ito over the radio, na sinasabi na ang 12 nautical miles ng Pag-asa Island ay territorial sea ng Pilipinas at tayo ay may sovereignty rito,” he said in a public briefing.
(Our Coast Guard is continuously challenging this over the radio where we tell them that 12 nautical miles from Pag-asa Island is our territorial sea and we have sovereignty over it.)
“Ganoon pa rin ang ginagawa din ng China, sila naman ay hindi nagriresponde sa tawag ng ating mga Coast Guard personnel,” Tarriela added.
(But China continues to ignore us. They don’t respond to the calls of our Coast Guard personnel.)
Tarriela said the PLA and other maritime militia vessels are still there, and the PCG continues to challenge these vessels.
The PCG on Saturday reported that it has spotted Chinese military ships and more than 40 CMM vessels anchored within the waters near Pag-asa island.
READ: 44 Chinese ships spotted in waters off Pag-asa
Fourteen suspected CMM vessels were also anchored within the vicinity of Pag-asa Cay 3 with an estimated distance of 4 NM (7.4 km) west of Pag-asa Island, while the other 28 suspected CMM vessels were monitored to be within the area of Pag-asa Cay 4.
Pag-asa is the second-largest naturally occurring feature in Spratlys, next to the Taiwanese-occupied Itu Aba, and the only one with civilian inhabitants. It has been occupied by the Philippines since 1971.