Standing our ground

Chinese vessels, believed to be militia have swarmed the waters near Iroquois Reef and Sabina Shoal. Both areas are close to Palawan. The Department of National Defense (DND) has aired concern over this situation. DND officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. said: “Our lines remain open to dialogue. However, we maintain that activities which violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, and undermine the peace and stability of the region, are unacceptable.” The President’s directive to the Department is clear — we will not give up a single square inch of Philippine territory.”

In case the DND hasn’t noticed, Chinese vessels have always swarmed waters we claim as ours. It doesn’t matter if we file a mountain of protests. The Chinese merely shrug these off or laugh at them, asserting that the waters are part of Chinese territory and that we should respect it. A Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel challenged a Philippine civilian boat bringing food, water, and gifts to the Marines stationed at BRP Sierra Madre last Saturday. These vessels are huge, almost the size of destroyers. The resupply was successful despite the radio warnings from the Chinese. The CCG vessel even “shadowed” the boat. The Marines couldn’t be happier after receiving their individual packs of Christmas goodies.

President Marcos Jr. stated he would use the 2016 Hague ruling to assert our territorial rights over the areas claimed by China. Remember former President Duterte called this ruling a piece of paper that belonged in a garbage can. This is why the Chinese are so emboldened to swarm, loiter and harass our vessels. They know they had a powerful ally in the Palace during Duterte’s term. How President Marcos Jr. would use The Hague ruling remains to be seen.

Incidents like this highlight just how lacking in resources our Coast Guard is. We do have new ships, but these are naval vessels. You don’t send “gray ships” or warships to an incident such as this one. Sending a warship would be seen as a provocation that would be responded to in kind. Such was the situation in 2012 when the Philippines sent a warship to Panatag Shoal prompting the Chinese to send their own warships. There is a reason Coast Guard vessels are painted white, to show they are not naval vessels. But China has the largest Coast Guard fleet in the world, with many ships practically the size of destroyers. They can easily sail all over the country and even loiter for long periods of time without resupply.

The important thing is to stand our ground. We have The Hague ruling to back up our claims, even if China does not recognize it. We have the support of many countries on this ruling. I don’t believe China will do anything brash or violent, but these radio challenges, shadowing of our vessels, and even blocking resupply runs to Ayungin Shoal must stop, lest a miscalculation or an unfortunate incident by overzealous personnel happens.