The Philippine Navy has confirmed the presence of Chinese ships at the Recto Bank that is part of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the Philippines in the West Philippines Sea.
Based on the PN monitoring, 2 Chinese ships have been seen circling within the Philippine EEZ since August 6.
According to PN Chief Vice Admiral Giovanni Bacordo, the ships have no clearance. The Navy will recommend to the Department of National Defense (DND) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) the filing of diplomatic protest regarding the activity of China in the said area.
Bacordo has admitted that the activity of China in the sea territory of the Philippine EEZ is continuous and purposive.
“We’d like to conclude that indeed, they’re conducting surveys because they have been there for about a week already. And the speed is something less than three knots. And you can only do that if you’re doing actual surveys.”
However, this is not an excuse for the Philippines to be aggressive against China.
“The first one to fire the shot loses public support. And I’m sure, they want us to take the first shot. But we will not…We are guided by the rule of law. We want to maintain the moral high ground”.
The Philippine Navy has defended the directive of prohibiting the Philippines to participate in Joint Naval Exercise in the South China Sea. Under Provision No. 5 of the 2002 Declaration of the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, Southeast Asian countries have the right to decline activities that will cause dispute in the region. The Philippines and China have signed the agreement.
“The President told me, ‘Protect the country, protect the people.’ Those two phrases, I interpret [them] as to continue all of these missions in the West Philippine Sea. But options leading to an armed conflict should be avoided.”
Report from Bea Bernardo
