MANILA, Philippines, March 9 ------ China’s disregard for the 2016 Arbitral Award continues, with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) disclosing that 260 Chinese vessels were spotted in various parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in February alone.
Of the 260, three were People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) warships, while 16 were China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels monitored around Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, where the Sierra Madre is grounded; Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc and Sabina (Escoda) Shoal. “Emphasis is given to these three features as they are very important in protecting our exclusive economic zone (EEZ),” AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla told reporters in a press briefing.
She also declared that the AFP will nevertheless “remain steadfast in our commitment to upholding international law and defending the integrity of our national territory.” Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS, said nine different coast guard vessels were monitored in Panatag Shoal, while seven were seen in Ayungin Shoal. Meanwhile, two PLAN warships were spotted in Panatag Shoal and one in Ayungin Shoal.
Asked if the AFP is considering proposals for the military to escort Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft patrolling the area, Trinidad said the AFP “has always been present in the West Philippine Sea, in Bajo de Masinloc, in the Northern Islands. We have never left that place.” Trinidad said China also continues to wage information attacks on the Philippines and that “the battlefield is the cognitive domain or the minds of the Filipino people…designed to shape the perception of the Filipinos. This is also called malign influence.” He stressed that Filipinos should be wary of the misinformation that China has been peddling and be “very deliberate in receiving deceptive messages. Because again, this is all part and parcel of information attacks.”
He said more recent claims that Palawan used to be part of China or was discovered by China may be part of such information attacks, noting that “in an authoritarian state where social media and freedom of expression is regulated by government, everything is possible.” “Such statements about Palawan are baseless. They are bereft of legal references. They are beyond common sense. In short, totally absurd. It will never happen that a part of the Philippines will be included in the sovereign territory of any other country,” Trinidad emphasized.
Source: philstar.com
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