115-5-2024 (MANILA) In a bold move to assert their rights over the contested waters of the South China Sea, civilians on board Philippine fishing boats embarked on a journey towards the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday. The convoy, comprising around 100 individuals aboard four commercial fishing vessels and several smaller outriggers, aims to distribute provisions to Filipino fishermen and reinforce the country’s territorial claims in the disputed waterway.
The trip to the waters surrounding Scarborough Shoal comes just two weeks after a tense maritime incident where Chinese Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at two Philippine government boats in the same area, further escalating tensions between the two nations.
The civilian convoy, organized by the group Atin Ito (It’s Ours), set sail from a northern Philippine port with a Philippine Coast Guard boat providing an escort. Rafaela David, a representative of Atin Ito, stated that the mission is peaceful and grounded in international law, with the primary objective of asserting the Philippines’ sovereign rights.
“Our mission is peaceful, based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” David said in a statement on the eve of the trip. “We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianise the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”
Despite reports of a “heavy presence” of Chinese vessels near the shoal, David emphasized that the group remains undeterred and plans to proceed with their intentions, including dropping a dozen buoys marked “WPS is ours” – a reference to the “West Philippine Sea,” Manila’s name for the South China Sea waters immediately west of the Philippines.
Scarborough Shoal, a strategic reef located approximately 240 kilometers west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan, has been a long-standing point of contention between the two nations. In 2012, China seized control of the shoal from the Philippines, fueling tensions and disputes over territorial claims in the resource-rich South China Sea.
China’s sweeping claims over almost the entire South China Sea have been met with strong opposition from the Philippines and other countries in the region, as well as an international ruling that deemed China’s assertions as having no legal basis. Nevertheless, Beijing has continued to deploy coast guard and other vessels to patrol the waterway, transforming several reefs into artificial islands that have been militarized.
Tensions over the disputed waters and reefs have intensified in the past 18 months as Manila intensifies its pushback against China’s growing assertiveness in the region. This is the second civilian convoy organized by the Atin Ito group, following a previous attempt in December that was aborted due to the presence of shadowing Chinese vessels.
