THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) resupplied Filipino fishermen operating near disputed maritime features in the South China Sea on Wednesday, defying heightened Chinese presence in the contested waters.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, the coast guard said it had delivered thousands of liters worth of fuel, tons of crushed ice and hundreds of food packs to fishermen off Scarborough and Sabina shoals, despite what it described as “aggressive actions” by Chinese vessels.
“This operation… underscores the government’s commitment to safeguarding the livelihoods of Filipino fishermen and asserting maritime jurisdiction,” it said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
The Philippine government earlier this year launched a program aimed at sustaining the presence of Filipino fishers near contested areas in the country’s western seaboard that have become flashpoints amid China’s increasingly assertive claims over the South China Sea.
Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea via a U-shaped, 1940s nine-dash line map that overlaps with the exclusive waters of the Philippines and neighbors like Vietnam and Malaysia despite a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that voided its claims.
Access to Scarborough Shoal has been restricted for Filipinos after China seized control of the atoll in 2012 following a standoff with Philippines forces. It is a vast fishing lagoon that lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile (370 kilometers) exclusive economic zone.
Manila and Beijing have repeatedly clashed over contested maritime features in the resource-rich waterway, with confrontations involving water cannon blasts and sideswipes by Chinese vessels resulting in injuries to Filipino crew members.
Philippine Coast Guard said it deployed the 96.6-meter BRP Teresa Magbanua, its biggest multi-role ship, and the 44-meter patrol ship BRP Cape San Agustin to Scarborough Shoal to support six BFAR vessels that distributed aid to Filipino fishing boats.
Manila’s coast guard said it monitored seven China Coast Guard ships and 10 Chinese militia vessels in the disputed feature, with a Chinese Navy ship issuing a radio warning of a live-five exercise near the Philippine resupply point.
“Despite the intimidation tactics, the… teams continued their mission, successfully delivering over 50,000 liters of fuel to approximately 55 boats,” it said.
Philippine authorities also distributed about 48,000 liters of fuel to more than 35 fishing boats at Sabina Shoal within the heavily contested Spratly Islands, which are claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam aside from China.
The PCG deployed its second 96.6-meter multi-role ship BRP Melchora Aquino and the 44-meter patrol ship BRP Cabra to Sabina, where it accused a Chinese military helicopter of intimidating the Filipino fishing party by performing “low-altitude monitoring flights.”
Manila’s fishery bureau sent five ships to the disputed shoal, where eight Chinese Coast Guard ships and nine militia vessels were observed during the resupply mission, the PCG said.
“This mission exemplifies President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s firm policy: We will neither waver nor surrender a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power,” PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan said in the statement.
The Marcos administration has recalibrated the Philippines’ South China Sea strategy, deepening security ties with allies and launching missions to support fishers in contested waters, all while pursuing upgrades to the country’s aging fleet. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio
