HEADLINE | Philippine-PH bent on retaking Scarborough Shoal
This file PCG photo show a Filipino fishermen were spotted over Bajo de Masinloc during the aerial surveillance of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). Photo from Philippine Coast Guard.
THE Philippines is committed to retaking Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, which China has occupied since 2012.
“Since the new administration took office, we have already strategized how we can take control once again of Bajo de Masinloc, especially the lagoon,” Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman on the West Philippine Sea issue Commo. Jay Tarriela said on Wednesday.
Bajo de Masinloc is 198 kilometers west of Subic Bay, making it part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Besides the Philippines and China, Taiwan is also claiming the area.
Chinese maritime forces captured Bajo de Masinloc in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippine military.
This prompted Manila to file a case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in 2013 concerning the legality of Beijing’s nine-dash line from which its claim over a vast portion of the West Philippine Sea is based.
In 2016, the PCA declared China’s claim invalid, upholding the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the area. China rejected the court’s decision, sending more ships to Scarborough Shoal to reinforce its claim.
On the other hand, a multitude of nations backed the PCA ruling.
Tarriela said the decision to regain the shoal is supported by the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
“For so many months, we were able to calibrate our deployment in such a time that we can already anchor the distance of 300 meters. This will be sustained in the next coming days, but I don’t want to detail in public how we are going to do that,” he said.
.
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingTarriela issued the statement after the PCG removed the 300-meter floating barrier installed by the China Coast Guard (CCG) at Bajo de Masinloc.
“There are pros and cons with what we did to carry out the instructions of President [Ferdinand] Marcos [Jr.]. They might still return the floating barrier; they might still do shadowing and dangerous maneuvers once again,” he added.
The floating barrier in the southeast portion of the shoal was discovered during a routine patrol by BFAR and PCG on Saturday.
“This is the only instance we were able to monitor the Chinese hav[ing] used floating barriers to prevent Filipino fishermen from entering the lagoon. According to the fishermen, the Chinese have been doing this a lot already,” Tarriela said.
He said Filipino fishermen could only fish within the immediate vicinity of the shoal because the lagoon has been guarded by Chinese vessels since the 2012 standoff.
On Tuesday, a Philippine ship encountered four Chinese vessels in the area, but Tarriela said they were “not that aggressive,” noting that it was most probably because members of the media were on board the Philippine ship.
It was reported that the China Coast Guard had removed remnants of the floating barrier removed by the PCG.
“We have shown the world the Filipino people will not back down, and we’re still going to consistently carry out whatever is necessary for us to maintain our presence [in the area],” Tarriela said.
A Philippine admiral said Wednesday that Filipino forces would dismantle any floating barrier China’s coast guard may install in the disputed South China Sea.
Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, who heads the military’s Western Command in charge of overseeing the South China Sea, told journalists he was concerned that the Chinese coast guard might also install a similar floating barrier at the entrance to Second Thomas Shoal, which is occupied by a small Philippine navy contingent on a long-grounded warship but has been surrounded by Chinese coast guard ships.
“My concern is if they also put a barrier in Ayungin … we also have to remove the barrier,” Carlos told journalists, using the Philippine name for Second Thomas Shoal. “Whatever they install, we will remove.”
With AP
Memento Maxima Digital Marketing
@[email protected]
SPACE RESERVE FOR ADVERTISTMENT
