Chinese vessels roaming near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are not heeding the Philippine Coast Guard’s warnings to respect the country’s maritime borders, the latter’s spokesman said Tuesday.
This developed as President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. boarded a fighter jet and flew over a portion of the WPS, a Palace source told the Standard, even as he vowed to upgrade the country’s defense capabilities and improve the military’s maritime patrol capability.
The President yesterday led the ceremonial blessing of the Philippine Air Force’s new C-295 medium lift aircraft at Clark Air Base in Pampanga, then was seen in pictures in full flight gear aboard an FA-50PH fighter jet on the tarmac.
The flight took Mr. Marcos over an area called IMTA (Intensive Military Training Area)-1 Zambales Area in the West Philippine Sea, together with four other jet fighters, the Standard source said.
A separate source from the Presidential Security Group, however, said it was only a “familiarization flight.”
It was related to a capability demonstration made by the PAF to showcase the performance and ability of the country’s air fleet, the source added.
As of press time, the Presidential Communications Office has not confirmed if Mr. Marcos indeed flew over the WPS.
Upon alighting from the jet, the Air Force gave the President the call sign “Lawin” (eagle) and gave the President the Mach Buster, FA-50PH, and call sign badges for his flight suit.
Meanwhile, PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela said during a public briefing that the Coast Guard station in Pag-asa has been radioing the Chinese ships reminding them that the 12 nautical miles of waters off Pag-asa Island is part of the territorial sea of the Philippines.
Although the Coast Guard stresses that “we have sovereignty here,” the ships from China do not budge or respond to their repeated radio calls, Tarriela added.
The vessels seen wandering Philippine waters last Saturday “are still roving in our seas,” he said.
This was after the PCG reported the presence of a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy vessel, China Coast Guard vessel 5203, and 42 suspected Chinese maritime militia vessels.
Tensions has been rising in past weeks between the Philippines and China after a Chinese ship used a “high-powered” laser light on a PCG vessel that was on a rotation and resupply mission for the Philippine Navy.
Since the incident, the Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China regarding the laser use, which the Defense Department and several lawmakers called “offensive and unsafe.”
At Clark Air Base, President Marcos noted the fact that the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,640 islands, which requires a wider range of air defense which was a challenge to the PAF.
“Our country’s archipelagic nature and geostrategic location is both a blessing and a challenge,” he said.
“As much as our maritime environment provides us with much needed resources, it also requires us to constantly adapt to become more mobile and agile,” the President added.
Mr. Marcos led the acceptance and turnover of the last of three C-295 Medium Lift Aircraft units acquired by the Philippines from Spain.
The unit received yesterday is one of the three brand-new C-295s, two of which were delivered last year. They are expected to augment the four units previously acquired by the PAF in 2015 and 2019.
The Air Force now has seven such units in its inventory.
“This attests to the progress of our nation in upgrading our defense capabilities,” Mr. Marcos said.
He also thanked the government of Spain for assisting the PAF in the acquisition, describing it as one of the “meaningful outcomes” of the longstanding relationship between the two countries.
Mr. Marcos said the additional C295 aircraft will allow the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to provide “more responsive support” to government agencies especially in emergency situations and on humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations.
He also welcomed the demonstration of the flight capability of the FA-50PH fighter jet, saying these jets will improve the Philippine maritime patrol capability, aid air force in monitoring the development within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone, and provide close air support to combat troops.
In a related development, a legislator from the Bicol Region urged the administration to heighten protection of the areas being encroached by China through joint maritime patrols with allies like the United States, Japan, and Australia.
“The government must not rely on mere filing diplomatic protests, it should take more forceful action to check China’s nonstop intrusion to Philippine territory through joint patrols by allies,” Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte said.
“We should talk to our allies and have joint border patrols already. The US, Japan, Australia and all our allies should help us do joint border patrols. I think that’s the start,” he added.
If China is really sincere in saying it wants peace, Villafuerte said,“it should stop these infractions.”
“For me, as a Filipino, it’s a direct affront to us as a people. What the Chinese are doing right now, with the laser pointing, you know, we should deploy (armed) vessels around the contested areas.”
He added: “I think part of the solution right now is for us to appealto our allies … joint border patrols.”
The National Unity Party (NUP) president also called on the PCG to “expand the scope of such planned joint patrols to check future Chinese incursions by initiating similar negotiations, if there aren’t any yet, with our allies other than the US and Japan.”