Marcos: PH ships to stay in West PH Sea despite China’s provocations

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, vowed that Philippine military and coast guard ships will remain in the West Philippine Sea despite China’s continued provocations, stressing he has issued no orders for their withdrawal.

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine military and coast guard ships will remain in the West Philippine Sea despite China’s continuous provocations, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Monday.

The president clarified that he had not issued any orders for the Philippine Navy or Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels to withdraw from the West Philippine Sea, following the latest confrontation between Filipino and Chinese ships in waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

“Never, never. We do not back down because we are afraid. I don’t know about other places, but this government does not withdraw from battles. We Filipinos are brave,” Marcos said in a press conference in Malacañang.

According to Marcos, no military or uniformed personnel wants to engage in conflict with anyone.

“They are just doing their duty. They are performing their mission [to] defend the Philippines, and we will not stop doing it,” he said.

“We will only stop doing it when the threats stop,” he added.

Marcos also urged China to direct its military and paramilitary forces in the West Philippine Sea to cease their threatening actions against Filipinos.

“When the threats stop, then everyone can sit more safely at home. And we’ll feel more at ease when the situation is like that,” he said.

READ: Chinese ships collide off Scarborough Shoal, PH Coast Guard offers aid

His remarks came after a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel, while chasing a PCG ship, collided with a Chinese Navy warship off Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal on Monday, with the PCG immediately offering assistance.

According to PCG–West Philippine Sea spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela, People’s Liberation Army Navy warship 164 collided with CCG ship 3104 about 10.5 nautical miles east of Panatag Shoal.

CCG 3104 had been pursuing the BRP Suluan, which was escorting other vessels on a mission to assist Filipino fisherfolk near Panatag Shoal, when the collision occurred.

Located roughly 220 kilometers west of Zambales, Panatag—also called Bajo de Masinloc—lies within the country’s 220-kilometer exclusive economic zone.

China seized control of the shoal in 2012 after a tense standoff with the Philippine Navy. The following year, the administration of then-President Benigno Aquino III filed an arbitration case against Beijing before an international tribunal.

However, China does not recognize the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated its claim to as much as 90 percent of the South China Sea, including Bajo de Masinloc./mcm