THE Philippines has filed fresh diplomatic protest against China after its ships collided with Filipino vessels on a resupply mission to Ayungin shoal on Sunday, said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday.
DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza said the agency summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian on Monday morning following the incident.
However, the envoy was out of town so the agency instead summoned the Chinese Embassy’s Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong to convey the country’s protest.
“The summoning of the Chinese ambassador is not something we do every day. We file diplomatic protests every now and then but we don’t summon the Chinese ambassador all the time so this is also a clear message on the part of the Philippines,” National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said.
“That is a clear and unequivocal message being sent by the Philippines to China that we do not accept what is happening.”
The DFA said that as of Oct. 23, the country has filed a total of 465 protests against China since January 2020. Out of these, 122 were lodged during the Marcos administration, of which 55 were made in 2023.
Immediately after the story broke, the Chinese Coast Guard claimed in a news alert that the Philippines deliberately collided with its vessels in order to “make faults with China and the current situation.”
Malaya said that China, not the Philippines, was responsible for escalating tensions and aggression in the West Philippine Sea through its dangerous and irresponsible maneuvers which imperiled Filipino lives.
As a result of the collision, only one of the two civilian vessels contracted by the military was able to successfully deliver essential supplies to troops stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship deliberately grounded to serve as an outpost in the contested waters.
Malaya added that the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea was considering all possible actions in the event of future harassment by China, “[b]ut those future actions will depend on instructions from higher ups.”
