Flares over Panatag: PH protests Chinese aggression

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will file a diplomatic protest against China following the recent harassment of a Philippine Air Force (PAF) plane by two Chinese Air Force aircraft while it was flying over the country’s territorial waters near Bajo de Masinloc (also known as Panatag or Scarborough Shoal).

Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said on Monday that the government would “definitely protest” China’s latest action, which comes at a time when tensions between the two countries were beginning to “calm down.”“The President has come out very strongly on this and we will maintain that position,” Manalo said in an interview.

READ: China’s dropping of flares in WPS expected as PH asserts sovereignty – Teodoro

In a message to reporters on Monday afternoon, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Teresita Daza said she received information that the protest would be sent “within the day.”

Responding to a query about the effect of the incident on the provisional understanding reached by Beijing and Manila, Daza noted that the agreement was applicable only to rotation and resupply missions in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

“The Philippines adopts a de-escalatory approach to tensions in the West Philippine Sea. It remains committed to diplomacy and peaceful means of resolving disputes,” she added.

Int’l court case

But Sen. Risa Hontiveros wants the government to do more than just file a protest.

She called on the government on Monday to take Beijing to the international court anew, stressing that “the Philippines must start a legal battle now.”

“I call on the Executive (department) to start working on the filing of another round of legal cases before an international court. Not only is China keeping our waters hostage, she has also started to encroach on our skies,” she pointed out.

The Philippines first brought an arbitration case against China in 2013 and secured a historic win in 2016 after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague rejected Beijing’s expansive claims over nearly the entire South China Sea under its so-called nine-dash line. China has refused to accept the ruling.

According to Hontiveros, China’s aggressive actions against the air and sea assets of the Philippines were “clear and unacceptable violations of international law.”

“It is time for China to be held accountable for her belligerence. This is too much,” the senator added.

HARASSMENT IN THE SKY This photo shared by a Philippine government source shows Chinese fighter jets making a “dangerous” move against a Philippine Air Force plane, firing flares into its path as it was flying over Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Aug. 8.

Hontiveros also pointed out that China had repeatedly jeopardized the safety of Philippine military and coast guard personnel conducting security patrols and resupply missions inside the country’s territorial waters.

China, she reiterated, should be “made accountable for any potential injury to personnel or damage to equipment caused.”

“We should not wait for China to escalate her provocations further before we raise these grave concerns to an international body,” Hontiveros said.

Major escalation

The National Security Council (NSC) has called the latest incident a “major escalation” of tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

In a television interview, NSC Assistant Director General and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the PAF plane was a transport, noncombat aircraft used for “surveillance” and was just conducting a “routine mission” from Clark airfield in Pampanga on its way to Bajo de Masinloc.

Yet, the PAF plane was met by two Chinese fighter jets releasing flares, he noted.

“The use of flares shows a hostile intent. Of course, it’s not directly firing at it but what they have been doing to us on the water—firing water cannons and pointing lasers—they are also now doing it in the sky,” he said.

“This is a serious escalation on the part of China,” Malaya noted.

“Actually, we are saddened by this development as we have just concluded successful talks with China on the resupply missions at Ayungin Shoal and somehow we were optimistic that this would already diminish incidents like these.”

“Sadly, tension has again heightened because these provocations are no longer just happening on the water but also in the skies,” Malaya added.

Conduct unbecoming

In the Lower House, Speaker Martin Romualdez on Monday said the endangerment by Chinese fighter jets of a PAF plane doing a routine patrol “did not speak well of a country trying to be a world power and leader.”

“This latest aggressive action of China does not promote peace and stability in the West Philippine Sea and in the region,” Romualdez pointed out.

He stressed that disputes between two countries would not be resolved amicably if one nation resorted to aggression, harassment and bullying.

He also debunked China’s assertion of “indisputable sovereignty” over Bajo de Masinloc, noting that this has no legal foundation.

“They should not insist on this baseless claim. It is against the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which both the Philippines and China are signatories,” he said.

The Philippines, the Speaker said, is entitled to a 200-nautical-mile (370.4 kilometers) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under Unclos and “Bajo de Masinloc is 120 nautical miles (222.24 km) from Luzon and is clearly within our [EEZ], while it is 594 nautical miles (1,100.09 km) from China’s Hainan Island.” —with a report from Jeannette I. Andrade