Navy asserts PH vessel to stay at shoal, cites ‘past experiences’
For a week now, the largest coast guard vessels of the Philippines and China have been in close proximity to each other at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal.
As neither one of them had budged, the Philippine Navy on Tuesday reiterated that the Filipinos won’t be the first to do so, citing “our past experiences and current capabilities.”
Still, Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), refused to call the situation between the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the China Coast Guard (CCG) a “standoff.”
Trinidad said the BRP Teresa Magbanua, the PCG’s largest and most modern vessel, would not end its three-month-old mission at Escoda just because of the arrival on July 3 of CCG vessel 5901.
At one point, the CCG ship, called “The Monster” for being the world’s largest coast guard vessel, came as close as 500 yards to the Magbanua.
“We have our plans, not only for Escoda. All our plans are anchored on all our past experiences and current capabilities,” Trinidad said, suggesting a strategy behind the Magbanua’s resolve to stay put.
Panatag, 2012
It was Trinidad’s response when asked how the Navy would avoid a repeat of the 2012 standoff over another shoal—Panatag (Scarborough)—which lasted two months and ended with the Philippines losing the shoal to Chinese control.
Also known as Bajo de Masinloc, Panatag has since been off-limits to Filipino fishermen, mainly those from Zambales province, who now face harassment from the Chinese whenever they dare venture into what used to be part of their traditional fishing grounds.
“There is no standoff. No standoff,” Trinidad stressed.
But he said “We will ensure the integrity of our territory. Of course it is our mandate. Not only that, but we have to ensure that what is ours will remain ours.”
“We have almost all of our capital ships already being assigned or doing routine patrols in the West Philippine Sea, not only because of the ‘Monster’ ship,” he told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.
“We will not give up that ship (Magbanua). It is an indication of the government’s stand. It is the mandate of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to ensure the integrity of the national territory,” he added.
Dropped anchor
The PCG first noted the arrival of the 12,000-ton CCG ship at Escoda Shoal, saying it dropped anchor there on July 3.
Cmdr. Jay Tarriela, the PCG spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, then said the CCG earlier made “intrusive patrols” in other parts of the WPS in the last week of June—particularly at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Panganiban (Mischief) Reef—before going to Escoda to “intimidate” the Magbanua into leaving the area.
According to an update released on Tuesday by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, at least 95 Chinese vessels were sighted within the WPS on July 8 alone. Of the total, the majority were maritime militia vessels that numbered up to 78.
There are two Chinese warships also seen in the vicinity of Ayungin, which is located some 67 kilometers west of Escoda.
Escoda, which is about 139 km west of Palawan province, serves as the rendezvous point or staging area for rotation and resupply missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippine military outpost at Ayungin.
