THE House of Representatives Special Committee on West Philippine Sea chaired by Mandaluyong City Rep, Neptali Gonzales II met on Tuesday to tackle the blocking maneuvers of a Chinese Coast Guard vessel that led to its collision with a Philippine boat in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) last Oct. 22, 2023.
“The committee aims to thoroughly investigate the details and implications of the incident, hear testimonies from those directly involved ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the events, assess the current safety measures and protocols in place for navigating the WPS, and collaborate with stakeholders reinforcing the Philippine stance on upholding international law and territorial integrity,” Rep. Gonzales.
Based on documents, during the routine and regular station and resupply mission of the BRP Sierra Madre stationed at the Ayungin Shoal last October 22, two Chinese Coast Guard ships conducted a dangerous maneuver and collided with an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-contracted supply boat.
Rep. Gonzales cited Philippines’ strong protest against China’s action, “President Marcos has called on the PCG to investigate the matter. The Department of Foreign Affairs has filed another diplomatic protest as it summoned the Chinese Ambassador, and leaders of Congress have condemned the incident and called on China to be held accountable for its actions.”
He said the frequent incident Is a serious cause of concern, and reiterated the committee’s earlier commitment to safeguard the interest of the Philippines and its people. The panel invited the National Task Force (NTF) for the WPS to brief the committee on the most recent incident between Philippine and Chinese vessels at the WPS.
ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo asked the NTF-WPS if it has a concrete plan in order to stop similar incidents in the WPS in the future. NTF-WPS Deputy Director General Nestor Herico assured Rep. Tulfo that the NTFWPS has a plan to deal with similar issues in the WPS. “The NTF-WPS is continuously conducting meetings and planning war games scenario in the conduct of our operation and fighting for our sovereign rights, as well as jurisdiction in the WPS,” he said.
Lanao del Norte Rep. Mohamad Khalid Dimaporo requested the resource persons for a report on China’s activities involving other claimants of the so-called nine-dash line to ascertain whether China’s hostile acts are predominantly against the Philippines or China is equally hostile to other claimants, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei. DDG Herico said the NTF-WPS can provide the material regarding the other actions being conducted by China in the South China Sea and WPS to other claimants.
Defense Undersecretary Rodrigo Madriaga said what they do is cite the Chinese behavior or the Chinese violations for what they really are. “Their every action violates a lot of international laws. What is happening is they are violating collision regulations, which the PCG can actually explain.”
He agreed with Rep. Dimaporo to highlight the hostilities or violations by documenting them. “Because by highlighting them (violations), ‘internationalizing’ them, videotaping or documenting everything, we would increase the reputational risk to China and that was not done before. ‘Internationalizing’ is adding reputational cost to China and they don’t want that. The best manifestation of our diplomatic effort, as well as our documentation and showing it to the world is that now, a lot of countries are expressing their support to the Arbitral Ruling … Physically, we cannot compete with China but on the legal as well as diplomatic and political arena, I think the Philippines is setting the way for other ASEAN claimant- countries in the WPS,” Usec Madriaga said.
