MANILA, Philippines — Recent reports of Chinese vessels leaving Philippine waters after being challenged may be to avoid incidents, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Monday night.
Lorenzana made the comment after President Rodrigo Duterte asked about an encounter last week between coast guard patrol vessel BRP Cabra and a Chinese navy ship at Marie Louise Bank off El Nido, Palawan and in the West Philippine Sea.
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Duterte noted in Filipino that the Chinese navy ship and five Chinese fishing vessels earlier challenged in the area were "easy to get rid of."
He said: "Talagang pinaalis sila (they were really asked to leave) and they readily, well, agreed to the suggestion of the Coast Guard to move away from the territorial waters."
Responding in Filipino, Lorenzana said: "Ah, Mr. President, my suspicion is that they left because they were nearing Palawan and that is already not contested, it belongs to us. So that's one [reason]."
Beijing does not recognize the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated its expansive claims in the South China Sea and continues to deploy its ships to the West Philippine Sea or the part of the critical waterway within the Philippine exclusive economic zone despite several protests from Manila.
"Second, it seems as if they don't want to have an incident there involving their naval ships because they are using their naval ships while what we are using is the civilian coast guard ship. So those could be the reasons why they did not want a confrontation and left instead," the defense secretary also said.
BRP Cabra earlier previously dispersed five Chinese and two Vietnamese fishing vessels within the vicinity of the same bank in the West Philippine Sea.
Last month, it also issued radio challenges and successfully dispersed Chinese maritime militia vessels seen at Sabina (Escoda) Shoal located 130 nautical miles west of Puerto Princesa, Palawan.
Around 220 Chinese vessels that were seen mooring within the vicinity of Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea renewed tension between Manila and Beijing in March. The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea later said the ships had dispersed but had moved to other parts of the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines has lodged several diplomatic protests against China's incursions in its waters, most recently citing the naval power's "incessant deployment" of ships to Pag-asa (Thitu) Island in May.
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— Bella Perez-Rubio