Tarriela: Latest water cannon incident in Scarborough not an armed attack
MANILA, Philippines — The latest water cannon incident in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal does not count as an “armed attack,” a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said on Wednesday, referring to a move that could trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between Manila and Washington.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, clarified this even as he noted that the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) actions are escalating.
READ: China used ‘very fatal’ water cannon pressure in latest assault—PCG
On Tuesday, CCG vessels blasted the PCG’s BRP Bagacay and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ BRP Datu Bankaw with water cannons, causing significant damage to the said vessels.
READ: China water cannons 2 PH vessels in Scarborough Shoal anew
“This is still not an armed attack because this remains to be [the] same; China is still using a water cannon,” Tarriela said in a press briefing.
“The only difference is perhaps they are increasing the PSI, the pressure of the water, but as far as the Coast Guard is concerned, this is still not an armed attack,” he added.
READ: Biden reiterates: Any attack on PH aircraft, ship in SCS will invoke MDT
Signed on August 30, 1951, the MDT states that Manila and Washington would support each other if an external party attacked either one of them.
Articles IV and V of the MDT state that an armed attack in the Pacific, including anywhere in the South China Sea, on either their public vessels, aircraft, or armed forces, including their Coast Guards, would invoke mutual defense commitments between both countries.
Despite the use of water cannons, which Tarriela deemed to be “very fatal,” no fatalities were reported after the incident, which, he noted, could trigger the MDT.
“A death of a soldier or a member of the Philippine Coast Guard would definitely trigger the Mutual Defense Treaty regardless whatever means that they did,” Tarriela noted, citing President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.’s previous pronouncement.
Marcos, citing US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, made the declaration during a Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines forum.
READ: Marcos optimistic ‘ironclad’ US-PH defense pact is beyond politics
“I think Secretary Austin explained it very well, [that] if any servicemen, Filipino serviceman, is killed by an attack from any foreign power, then that is time to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty,” Marcos said.
“I thanked him (Austin) for making it very, very clear for everyone, and he did precisely that,” he also said.
Asked if the MDT could be invoked if the Chinese maritime militia conducts the armed attack, Marcos said: “Well, as long as they have actually caused casualties, and has killed the serviceman, whatever their designation are, whether they’re merchant, marine or Coast Guard or actual grey vessels or Navy vessels, it does not matter. That is an attack [on] the Philippines by a foreign power.”
