Padilla on WPS conflict: Why don’t we use water cannons too?

A RED LINE To slip past water cannon attacks and blocking maneuvers of Chinese ships, last
seen during the incident in Ayungin Shoal on Tuesday, the Philippine military will focus on
speed and maneuverability in its future missions to its outpost there, the BRP Sierra Madre,
according to Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, chief of the Western Command. —VIDEO GRAB FROM PCG

MANILA, Philippines—Don’t we have water cannons to retaliate against  China?

Senator Robin  Padilla raised this question  on  Monday when asked about  the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea  (WPS) involving Philippine and  Chinese Coast Guard  (CCG) vessels.

The CCG reportedly  monitored and tailed the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority vessel BRP Hydrographer Ventura and its Philippine Coast Guard escort BRP Gabriela Silang en route to Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Sunday.

“Lagi ko sinasabi lalo sa BRP Sierra Madre pag nagkakaroon ng pagdadala ng supply, binobomba sila ng tubig. Ilang beses ko nang sinabi, bakit hindi tayo mambomba din ng tubig?”  Padilla said in a press briefing in the Senate.

(When supplies are delivered to the BRP Sierra Madre, Philippine vessels are hit with water cannons. and I’ve said it before, why don’t we use water cannons too?)

He was  referring to the World War II-era ship  that was  deliberately grounded in  Ayungin Shoal in  1999 to serve as one of the  Philippine  military outposts there.

“Bakit tayo na lang lagi ang mukhang  aping-api dun. Bakit, wala ba tayong pambomba ng tubig para makaganti man lang  tayo?”  the senator asked.

(Why are we always at a disadvantage here? Don’t we have water cannons too to retaliate?)

The Philippine Coast Guard earlier thumbed  down the  use of the water cannon  tactic against  China.

“Unlike the Chinese Coast Guard, we’re not going to use that (water cannons) to drive away the China Coast Guard,” Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela was quoted as saying then.

“We intend to use that in firefighting whenever there is a maritime accident at sea,” he further said.

For Padilla, however,  China’s maneuvering is not something new as he witnessed it himself when he visited the Pagasa island last year.

But he said they did not allow China to block them.

“Kaya  yung mga ganyang  paghaharang sa inyo huwag kayo pumayag. Pwede kayo umiwas at nagawa ko yan,” he said.

(So don’t allow that kind of obstruction. You can avoid it, and I have done that before.)

After insinuating the use of  water cannons, however,  Padilla called for cooler heads to prevail.

The country, he said, could not afford  at this point  to join the  chaos that is  already happening in other parts of the  world such as in  the Middle East  and   Eastern  Europe.

“Daananin natin ito sa usapin ng diplomasya,” he said.

(Let us address this through diplomacy.)