By Gabriela Baron
Forty-two suspected Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels were seen anchored in the vicinity of Pag-asa Island, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed Saturday, March 4.
PCG also observed the presence of Liberation Army Navy (PLA) vessels and Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships.
“These Chinese vessels are estimated to have a distance of approximately 4.5 to 8 nautical miles from Pag-asa Island, clearly inside the land feature’s 12 nautical mile (NM) territorial sea,” PCG CG Admiral Artemio Abu said.
Abu said a PLA Navy vessel and a CCG ship have been observed to be “slowly loitering” within the surrounding waters of Pag-asa Island.
Fourteen suspected CMM vessels are anchored within the vicinity of Pag-asa Cay 3 with an estimated distance of 4 NM west of Pag-asa Island, while 28 suspected CMM vessels are monitored to be within the area of Pag-asa Cay 4.
According to PCG, Pag-asa Island is the largest island in the Kalayaan Island Group located in Palawan.
Based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, the observed location of the Chinese vessels fall squarely within Pag-asa Island’s 12 NM territorial sea.
Earlier, the presence of 26 CMM vessels were observed by PCG in Ayungin and Sabina Shoals in the West Philippine Sea.
PCG said their continuing unauthorized presence is clearly inconsistent with the right of innocent passage and a blatant violation of the Philippines’ territorial integrity.
Abu vowed that PCG personnel will “continuously patrol” Philippines waters with “full courage and determination.”
“We, in the PCG, together with our comrade in arms in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, have accepted this challenge on the day we started wearing our uniforms and took our oath to serve our country and people!” he added. -cf