WESTERN Philippine Command chief Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres confirmed on Wednesday that the Chinese Coast Guard boarded Filipino navy boats in the West Philippine Sea this week in a confrontation that left a sailor severely injured.
“The Chinese Coast Guard personnel illegally embarked on our RHIBS (rigid-hulled inflatable boats),” Western Philippine Command chief Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres told reporters in the first official Filipino account of the incident off Ayungin Shoal.
CCG personnel also seized guns from the Philippine boats, according to Torres.
“They got some (guns),” he said, adding the firearms had been stored in the boats crewed by Filipino sailors who were under orders not to display their weapons in Monday’s confrontation off Ayungin Shoal, which is also known as Second Thomas Shoal.
DFA condemns collision
The Philippines, through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), earlier in the day condemned the collision incident involving a Chinese ship and a Filipino vessel that resulted in the severe injury of a Philippine Navy serviceman during a rotation and resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.
In a statement, the DFA said it “denounces the illegal and aggressive actions of Chinese authorities that resulted in personnel injury and vessel damage.”
As it expressed grave concern over the incident, the DFA said that it has been exerting efforts to rebuild a conducive environment for dialogue and consultation with China with regard to issues on the South China Sea.
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