Story by: Jeoffrey Maitem
Photos by: Mark Navales

COTABATO CITY — The Philippines has summoned China’s Charge d’ Affaires in the country Monday in the wake of the latest harassment of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) and its suspected militias in the contested waters in the South China Sea over the weekend that left four Filipino sailors injured and heavy damage to a civilian supply boat.

In a statement, Teresita Daza, spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said they have also instructed the Philippine Embassy in Beijing to lodge a similar protest before the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs there.

Manila, according to Daza, has made “sincere efforts” to lower the tension in the disputed waters, but China’s aggressive actions persist.

“In these demarches, the Philippines stressed, among others, that China has no right to be in Ayungin Shoal, a low-tide elevation that lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Award,” the DFA official pointed out in a statement.

Over the weekend, CCG fired a water cannon against a civilian resupply boat in Ayungin Shoal, causing “significant damages to the vessel” and injuring its crew, the Philippine Coast Guard said.

Manila was attempting to resupply troops in the contested waters when the CCG and maritime militia “harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers against the routine rotation and resupply mission.

At the same time, the CCG also set up “a floating barrier” to block access to the shoal where Manila ran aground an old warship, the BRP Sierra Madre, to serve as a military outpost.

According to Daza, Beijing’s intrusion delaying the Philippines’ activities at Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea is not acceptable.

“China’s continued interference with the Philippines’ routine and lawful activities in its own exclusive economic zone is unacceptable. It infringes upon the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” she said, adding Manila demanded that “Chinese vessels leave the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal and the Philippine exclusive economic zone immediately.

“China’s aggressive actions call into question its sincerity in lowering the tensions and promoting peace and stability in the South China Sea. Even as the Philippines continues to engage China in dialogue and diplomacy at the bilateral and multilateral levels, China’s aggressive actions contradict and put to waste ASEAN-China efforts to promote practical activities to foster peace and cooperation in the region,” she also said.

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro has urged Beijing to take its claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea to international arbitration

“If China is not afraid to state its claims to the world, then why don’t we arbitrate under international law?,” Teodoro told reporters, adding Manila would not budge on its position.

“They are the ones who entered our territory. No country believes (their claims) and they see this as their way to use force, intimidate and bend the Philippines to their ambitions.”

On Sunday. Eduardo Año, National Security Adviser who also chairs the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, said in a statement that the central government would not be deterred from resupplying its military outpost in Ayungin despite China’s latest harassment.

“We will not be intimidated because it is our right and we have to protect our soldiers, our sailors there at BRP Sierra Madre,” he asserted.

Washington immediately condemned China’s “dangerous actions, citing Beijing’s provocative actions not only to undermine regional stability but also to display a blatant disregard for international law.

U.S. Department of State (USDS) Spokesperson Matthew Miller said the actions have critically hindered the delivery of essential supplies to Filipino soldiers, directly impacting their operational capabilities and welfare.

“People’s Republic of China (PRC) ships’ repeated employment of water cannons and reckless blocking maneuvers resulted in injuries to Filipino service members and significant damage to their resupply vessel, rendering it immobile,” he said.

“This incident marks only the latest in the PRC’s repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and disruption of supply lines to this long-standing outpost,” Miller added.