Teodoro slams China Coast Guard latest harassment of PCG vessel

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (INQUIRER / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE)

MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday called “irresponsible” China Coast Guard’s recent behavior in the latest resupply mission in BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

“The Philippine Coast Guard vessels were once again dangerously harassed. This is, to me, irresponsible behavior on the part of the Chinese Coast Guard,” Teodoro told reporters in an ambush interview after an event in Manila.

“I think that the world knows who is in the right here,” he pointed out.

The government successfully conducted another resupply mission in the commissioned Philippine Navy vessel on September 8.

According to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, the resupply mission was again hounded by Chinese Coast Guard vessels’  “harassment, dangerous maneuvers, and aggressive conduct.”

The World War II-era warship, situated in a low-tide elevation about 194 kilometers off Palawan province within the country’s exclusive economic zone, has hosted a small contingent of military personnel since 1999.

The vessel recently hogged the headlines when Chinese Coast Guard vessels used water cannons against two PCG boats on a resupply mission to the vessel last August 5.

China’s actions are based on its assertion that it owns almost all of the areas in the South China Sea, including the WPS through its ten-dash line.

READ: China should ‘act responsibly’: DFA junks Beijing’s ‘10-dash line’ map

But the Philippines challenged the then nine-dash line before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which later invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claim.

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JPV