AFP, PCG: We use water cannons to save lives

MANILA, Philippines — Although just as capable of firing water cannons as Chinese ships, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels would rather use their own water cannons to save lives and not to hurt anyone at sea.

“Our PCG vessels also have water cannons. Unlike the CCG, our PCG uses them to save lives,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar told reporters yesterday.

He was reacting to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that the China Coast Guard (CCG) acted appropriately when it used water cannon to stop a Philippine vessel from resupplying a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal on Aug. 5.

The statement said the CCG’s maneuvers to drive away a rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) mission for soldiers on the grounded BRP Sierra Madre were “professional, restrained and beyond reproach.”

“Trust more the words of our government officials who are fighting for what is right under international laws, reinforced by the arbitral award, and what is good for the Filipino people,” Aguilar said.

“The video footages are incontrovertible evidences showing the unlawful and excessive acts of the China Coast Guard against our own people. Actions that endanger peoples’ lives can never be described as professional, restrained and beyond reproach,” he stressed.

PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela, during a joint press briefing with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the AFP on Monday, said its vessels were indeed also equipped with water cannons.

“The MRV vessels that came from Japan are also equipped with water cannon. But unlike the Chinese Coast Guard, we’re not going to use that to drive away the China Coast Guard,” he said.