The country’s Navy chief visited troops and military facilities on Pag-asa Island on Friday and urged Filipinos and foreign tourists alike to explore Kalayaan town’s seat of governance.
Navy chief Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr. arrived with Commodore Alan Javier of the Naval Forces West at Pag-asa Island “to demonstrate the country’s sovereignty over the contested area and its readiness to welcome everyone, including tourists,” said Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.
“Pag-asa is accessible to everybody. It is now open to tourism. It is ours, and we would like to encourage Filipinos to visit Pag-asa Island. It is also to show them what our country is doing on the island.”
This developed as the Philippine Coast Guard released a drone footage over the weekend showing a Chinese Coast Guard vessel blocking BRP Datu Sanday that was on a resupply mission for Filipino fisherfolk in Bajo de Masinloc on Feb. 22.
The CCG ship was also seen deploying a new floating barrier in the area
“Filipino fishermen have been fishing in these waters for generations, long before the establishment of the Chinese Coast Guard,” PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
“We are not like China that uses fishing vessels as part of its gray zone tactics to alter the status quo in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
President Marcos earlier said the Philippines will file a case against foreign entities using cyanide in the West Philippine Sea, in particular at Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, if there is evidence to prove the illegal fishing practice.
The National Security Council raised the possible filing of a case against foreign fishers in WPS after Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources spokesperson Nazario Briguera reported Chinese and
Vietnamese vessels using cyanide near Bajo de Masinloc.
Briguera said parts of the resource-rich area had been destroyed by cyanide fishing.