PH, Vietnam tout ‘crucial cooperation’ as joint drills set Friday

PORT CALL Members of the Philippine Coast Guard on Monday welcome Vietnam Coast Guard CSB 8002 and its crew at South Harbor in Manila for a five-day port call. The coast guards of the two countries will hold joint exercises for search and rescue, and fire and explosion prevention training. —Richard A. Reyes

MANILA, Philippines — The coast guards of the Philippines and Vietnam touted their “crucial cooperation” in maintaining peace and a stable maritime environment ahead of their inaugural joint drills later this week, against the backdrop of China’s growing aggression in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese coast guard ship CSB 8002 docked in Manila for the first time on Monday with 80 crew members on board. The 90-meter, 2,400-ton vessel is here for a five-day goodwill visit and joint exercises on Friday with the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) 83-meter offshore patrol vessel BRP Gabriela Silang.

The joint activities and exchanges build on the two memorandums of understanding covering “incident prevention in the South China Sea” and “maritime cooperation among coast guards” signed during President Marcos’ state visit to Vietnam in January.

READ: Vietnam Coast Guard ship schedules 4-day port call in Manila – PCG

“This cooperation is crucial for maintaining a safe and secure maritime environment and it reinforces the strong bilateral ties of our two countries,” said Commodore Arnaldo Lim, who represented the PCG in welcoming the Vietnamese delegation.

“Their arrival marks a significant milestone in our bilateral cooperation and in strategic partnership,” he said.

READ: Tarriela: Vietnam minds its own affairs, not harassing Filipino fishers

Col. Hoang Quoac Dat, deputy commander of Vietnam Coast Guard-Region 2, whose jurisdiction covers Hanoi’s claims in the South China Sea, said their visit was regarded as “a critical cooperative effort” in line with the agreements signed early this year.

“This will promote and enhance the efficiency of information sharing and the coordination in maritime law enforcement, in accordance with international law,” he said.

Run-ins with China

The joint drills in Manila Bay will include simulating the rescue of distressed fishermen and putting out a fire using water cannons in the South China Sea, PCG spokesperson Rear Adm. Armando Balilo said.

Both the Philippines and Vietnam are among the claimants in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. The two southeast Asian nations have had run-ins with China’s coast guard in the disputed waterway.

Others claiming parts of the South China Sea are Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan, the self-governing island which China claims as part of its territory.

Portions of the strategic waterway, where $3-trillion worth of trade passes annually, are believed to be rich in oil and natural gas deposits, as well as fish stocks.

Manila refers to the waters inside its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s island-building in the South China Sea has reached a record high over the last few months, reports said.

“Even if we’re both rivals in the West Philippine Sea, it shows we can cooperate and build a partnership,” Balilo said. “This is a good template that can be used to de-escalate the situation, that other claimants may follow in the future.”

The Philippines and Vietnam have long been cooperating at sea.

Last month, the Vietnam People’s Navy hosted the Philippine Navy at Southwest Cay (Pugad) Island in the West Philippine Sea for a series of engagements as part of a regular friendship exchange.

Upcoming visit

The coast guard exercise precedes Vietnamese Defense Minister General Phan Văn Giang’s visit to the Philippines later this month upon the invitation of his local counterpart, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., in the latest sign of growing strategic ties between the two countries.

The two countries had earlier filed separate claims with the United Nations to an extended continental shelf to recognize their entitlements beyond their 370.4-kilometer (200-nautical-mile) EEZs in the South China Sea.

Both sides have acknowledged each other’s submissions and said they were ready to engage each other to settle their overlapping claims and find ways for a “mutually beneficial solution” to these issues.