West Philippine Sea aggression: Gov’t mulls legal action vs China – DFA

FILE PHOTO: A China Coast Guard (CCG) ship fires its water cannon at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels escorting supply boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines in August 2023. On Tuesday, March 5, 2024, the CCG again water cannon-attacked Philippine vessels on a mission to bring supplies to troops in the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea. VIDEOGRAB FROM PCG FACEBOOK PAGE

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is seriously studying possible legal action against China following another ramming attack in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend.

During a chance interview in Malacañang on Monday, reporters asked Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo if the Philippines would take legal action against China over the August 31 incident at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal.

“Well, we’re contemplating, at the moment, possible approaches to this issue – and I think [maybe] in the coming days or weeks, we’ll probably have a better picture of where we’re headed for this,” he replied.

“But certainly, it (what they did) doesn’t help the situation,” he added.

READ: 2 PH ships, 40 Chinese vessels: Onboard resupply mission to Escoda Shoal

According to Manalo, the DFA has already made the “necessary approaches” to China, particularly in expressing its complaints over Beijing’s hostile behavior in the West Philippine Sea.

“We have made the necessary approaches to China in terms of contacting them through various means to express our complaints and displeasure over what happened, and not only that, our concern about raising tensions over what was basically just innocent passages by Philippine vessels,” the DFA chief revealed.

However, Manolo noted, China’s response was merely to accuse the Philippines of “doing this and that.”

“We were just moving, and we were surprised by this incident,” he said.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5205 rammed the Philippines’ BRP Teresa Magbanwa (MRP 9701) – which has been stationed at Escoda Shoal since its deployment on April 15 – at 12:07 p.m. on Saturday.

But CCG spokesperson Liu Dejun claimed it was the PCG ship that “deliberately rammed” the Chinese vessel.

READ: China Coast Guard ship repeatedly rams PCG vessel in Escoda Shoal

The Philippines and China have long been embroiled in a maritime dispute over portions of the South China Sea, which overlaps the West Philippine Sea.

Beijing has been asserting ownership over almost the entire South China through its nine-dash line – which it also revised to 10-dash line in 2023 to incorporate Taiwan – even if a July 2016 arbitral award invalidated that claim and favored the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that covers the West Philippine Sea.

China has been engaging in aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea – blocking, chasing, ramming, and firing powerful water cannons at Philippine vessels, troops, and fisherfolk – causing and raising tension in the region.