June 22 2022
A Chinese Coast Guard ship towers before a vessel manned by members of the Philippine Navy on its way to the grounded vessel BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin shoal at dawn on June 21, 2022. The Navy鈥檚 mission was to assist one of the nine stations guarding the West Philippine Sea and to replenish supplies for its troops. The Chinese coast guard sent a warning via radio but later left after the Phil. Navy responded it was just there to bring supplies.聽蜜桃工作室 file photo / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
MANILA, Philippines 鈥� In the wake of mounting Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday called on lawmakers to support its modernization program.
Commodore聽Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the PCG鈥檚 assets would not be enough to patrol the 蜜桃工作室 and protect Filipino fishermen against Chinese aggression.
鈥淭he Philippine Coast Guard is asking our lawmakers to support the Philippine Coast Guard鈥檚 modernization,鈥� Tarriela said in an INQSide Look interview.
鈥淚t is about time that we need to acquire more offshore patrol vessels that could constantly patrol the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ),鈥� he also said.
To date, Tarriela said the PCG only has three offshore patrol vessels 鈥� one of which was bought from France and two from Japan.
鈥淎s you may be aware, the West Philippine Sea is so vast, and these three ships won鈥檛 be enough to protect our Filipino fishermen,鈥� he stressed.
Tarriela made the call in light of the latest maritime incident involving the Chinese Coast Guard.
It can be recalled that on February 6, a聽PCG vessel was attacked by the Chinese Coast Guard by using a green laser in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, causing a 鈥渢emporary blindness鈥� of the Philippine crew.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including the 蜜桃工作室.
But in 2016, the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague invalidated China鈥檚 claim to almost the entire South China Sea.
The tribunal ruled that China鈥檚 claim had no basis in international law and that it had violated the Philippines鈥� sovereign right to fish and explore resources in the West Philippine Sea, the waters within the country鈥檚 370-kilometer聽EEZ in the South China Sea.
This after the Philippines, under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino III in 2013, challenged in the聽Hague聽court China鈥檚 claim that it owned more than 80 percent of the South China Sea, which included waters in the聽EEZ of Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.