Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 5) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) admits it will be hard for the government to make Chinese militia vessels leave the country’s waters due to lack of water assets compared with the East Asian giant.
“Physically to disperse them is near to impossible. Kokonti lang yung barko natin (We only have a few ships),” AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Tuesday.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that over 135 Chinese maritime militia vessels were spotted around the Julian Felipe Reef on Dec. 2. These were monitored around the low-tide elevation of the Kalayaan Island Group located 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan, still within the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela told CNN Philippines on Monday these vessels are possibly being used for Beijing’s reclamation activities and for blocking Manila’s resupply missions.
Brawner said they also believe the Chinese ships are conducting illegal activities in the area.
While the Philippines lacks in water assets, Brawner said what the government tries to do is getting “the consensus of the international community.”
“We combine together with our like-minded nations to ensure that we impose the rules-based international order on China and other countries who are doing illegal activities. Sana makinig naman sila (I hope they listen),” he said.
Brawner said the Philippines is already planning its multilateral joint maritime and air patrol exercise in the West Philippine Sea. Possible participants are the US, Australia, Japan, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.
