MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said Chinese forces committed “deliberate and illegal action” against the Filipino soldiers during the latest Ayungin Shoal incident.
While they ruled out the armed attack angle, President Marcos said it was still a deliberate action by the Chinese to stop the resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.
“It’s not armed, walang pumutok. Hindi tayo tinutukan ng baril. But it was a deliberate action to stop our people. But in the process of that, kinuhanan tayo. They boarded a Philippine vessel and took the equipment from the Philippine vessel,” Marcos said.
He added: “Although there were no (fire)arms involved, nonetheless it was still a deliberate action and it is still essentially an illegal action that was taken by the Chinese forces.”
The Chief Executive added that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) needs to “do more” than just protest China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.
“We have how many? We have over a hundred protests. We have already made a similar number of demarche, so we have to do more than just that,” Marcos said.
“Kasi papatawag natin ‘yung ambassador (ng China), sasabihin natin ito ‘yung position natin, hindi natin gusto ‘yung nangyari, and that’s it,” he added.
Seven members of the Philippine Navy were hurt, with one suffering a severe injury, from a collision between a Chinese ship and a local vessel performing a regular rotation and resupply (RORE) mission in the Ayungin Shoal on June 17.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said the incident was not an armed attack, but a misunderstanding or accident, but Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. countered that what transpired was an aggressive and illegal use of force by the Chinese forces.
The Ayungin Shoal, which China calls Ren’ai Reef, is located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan and is within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its continental shelf.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Philippine government sued China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in 2013. The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China’s nine-dash claim over the South China Sea. China, however, does not recognize the ruling./PN
