AFP ‘has never left’ vicinity of Scarborough — AFP West PH Sea spox

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea – Philippine Navy, speaks to the members of the media during AFP Weekly Press Briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on February 4, 2025. INQUIRER.net file photo / ARNEL TACSON

MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) “has never left” the vicinity of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, its West Philippine Sea spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said on Tuesday.

Trinidad made the statement after the National Maritime Council (NMC) spokesperson Alexander Lopez’s pronouncement, ruling out the deployment of AFP warships in Panatag Shoal.

“Not only the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Air Force, the AFP has never left the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc, the Northern Islands, Benham Rise and even Kalayaan Island Group,” Trinidad said in a regular AFP press conference.

“I would like to assure the Filipino people, rest assured, your AFP is there,” he added.

Trinidad maintained that there is “no conflict” with his statement and the previous pronouncement of Lopez.

READ: Maritime council rules out deployment of PH warships to Panatag

“Let’s first be very clear on this. The mission of the Philippine Coast Guard and BFAR was to support our fisher folks through the conduct of the Kadiwa,” he noted.

He continued: “That’s a law enforcement action of these agencies of government to support our fisher folks. The AFP, the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Air Force regularly conducts maritime patrol operations and air surveillance flights in Bajo de Masinloc, the Northern Islands, Benham Rise. There is no conflict in both statements. We have our respective mandates to perform.”

In what maritime experts deemed as an escalatory move, a 157-meter People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) warship with hull no. 164 joined the blocking operations against the PCG’s BRP Suluan on Aug. 11, leading to the Chinese warship colliding with a China Coast Guard (CCG) ship with hull no. 3104.

Both Chinese ships suffered damage, with CCG-3104’s forecastle being crushed, while BRP Suluan managed to evade the maneuver.

The PCG vessel, along with BRP Teresa Magbanua, was escorting the M/V Pamamalakaya, which was in the area to assist about 35 Filipino fishing vessels.

Two days later, the PCG’s Cessna Caravan was intercepted by a PLA-N Air Force J-15 fighter jet above the waters off Panatag.

China pushes what experts termed as “exclusion zone enforcement” around the atoll, outright flouting the landmark arbitral ruling which declared the area a traditional fishing ground for the Philippines, China, and Vietnam. /jpv