AFP monitors 27 Chinese vessels across key WPS features

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said it monitored a total of 27 Chinese vessels in key features of the West Philippine Sea this week, fewer than the 35 Chinese vessels monitored last week.

AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said the ships were tracked from May 12 to May 18 across four areas: Panatag Shoal, Ayungin Shoal, Escoda Shoal, and Pag-asa Island.

Most of these vessels were present in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal with 14 vessels — eight CCG vessels and six PLAN warships. The shoal is about 220 kilometers from Luzon in the West Philippine Sea, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It has remained under Chinese control since a 2012 standoff with the Philippine Navy.

READ: West PH Sea: Navy monitors 62 Chinese vessels in April

Ayungin Shoal saw eight — seven PLAN ships and one CCG vessel. The low-tide elevation is located 194 km off Palawan.

Four vessels were also monitored around Pag-asa Island, composed of two PLAN ships and two CCG vessels. The island is about 528 km west of Palawan.

Escoda Shoal, which lies about 195 km west of Palawan, saw one CCG vessel.

China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, waters in the western portion of the country’s 370-kilometer EEZ.

Beijing continues to ignore a 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal that nullified its claims and upheld Manila’s sovereign rights over these waters.

PH ‘fortifying’ WPS islands

Trinidad said the Philippines has “absolute sovereignty and complete jurisdiction” over its occupied features in the West Philippine Sea, including Pag-asa and Lawak islands, stressing that any repair, construction, enhancement, or fortification there is within Manila’s legal rights.

“We do not need to seek the permission of any country, more so one that has illegally intruded into and continues to be in our maritime zones,” Trinidad said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City when asked whether the development of the islands could be viewed as a threat to Chinese forces in the area.

“Whether they pose a threat or not to this particular country is none of our concern,” he added.

Trinidad said the government has continued carrying out “improvements, enhancements, development, repair, and fortification” on the islands to support deployed troops and residents, particularly the civilian community on Pag-asa Island in the Kalayaan municipality.

He also confirmed that repairs and upgrades to facilities on Pag-asa Island are already ongoing following the allocation of funds by Congress, adding that similar enhancement projects would also involve other Philippine-held features in the West Philippine Sea.

“These are all designed to support the people living on the islands and our troops deployed therein,” Trinidad said, although he did not provide a detailed timeline or percentage of completion for the projects. /das