4-5-2024 (MANILA) Amidst public criticism over their response to the latest harassment by China in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has staunchly defended its measured approach, asserting that their actions aimed to avoid escalating tensions in the region.
Commodore Jay Tarriela, of the PCG’s West Philippine Sea Transparency Office, made this statement in the wake of the Coast Guard’s decision not to retaliate, despite the China Coast Guard once again firing its cannons at Philippine vessels delivering supplies to Filipino fisherfolk at Bajo de Masinloc.
“We have a chain of command. We respect the guidance of our president,” Tarriela stated during a news forum on Saturday. “The guidance of the president is that we should not be provoked, we should not be the reason for intensifying the escalation for China to justify once again bringing the next level of aggression.”
In a brazen act of aggression, Chinese ships fired their cannons and rammed through the PCG vessel BRP Bagacay and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel BRP Bankaw last Tuesday. This occurred as Beijing persists in asserting claims over features within the West Philippine Sea, despite the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidating China’s nine-dash line claim on almost the entirety of the South China Sea in 2016.
The attacks resulted in over P2 million worth of damages to the vessels’ railing and canopy, with members of the media present aboard the Filipino ships.
While acknowledging the public’s outrage, Tarriela emphasized that the Coast Guard personnel must remain unprovoked, rejecting accusations of cowardice leveled against them. “It’s unfair to describe the PCG personnel as cowards,” he asserted. “We were just doing our patriotic duty.”
“But we cannot do otherwise because we have to comply, and we know for a fact – we trust our commander-in-chief, the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea, of course the National Security Adviser – but we have to maintain professionalism in dealing with this kind of bullying by the Chinese Coast Guard,” Tarriela continued.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has already summoned a senior Chinese embassy official to address the harassment by the China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., while maintaining friendly relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping, has voiced concerns over former President Rodrigo Duterte’s secret “gentleman’s agreement” with China on the Ayungin Shoal.
The situation has garnered international attention, with US President Joe Biden recently reiterating America’s pledge to defend the Philippines from any attack in the South China Sea, stating that it could invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty.
