More Navy ships to patrol Scarborough Shoal

THE Armed Forces will be deploying additional Navy ships to conduct patrols at the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal following Chinese harassment of Filipino fishermen in the area.

“We’ll have more assets of our Navy circling the area,” said Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, the military’s spokesperson, during a TV interview, adding that since internal security threats are waning, the military can allocate more resources for external defense.

Internal security operations are aimed at local threats such as the communist New People’s Army and terrorist groups in Mindanao.

Padilla did not say how many more Navy ships will be sent to do patrols at the vicinity of Scarborough Shoal and the number of vessels currently tasked to patrol the area.

“We will ensure that Filipinos can freely enjoy our aquatic resources especially in this traditional fishing ground. So we are hoping the China Coast Guard will respect this,” said Padilla.

Scarborough Shoal is about 124 nautical miles from Zambales. The Chinese gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff between Chinese and Philippine vessels.

Filipino fishermen continue to fish at the vicinity despite Chinese control of the shoal but they could not go inside shoal’s lagoon where there are more fish.

On January 12, a Chinese Coast Guard rubber boat with five men aboard approached Filipino fishermen gathering sea shells at the southern part of the shoal. A video of the incident was posted on social media a week after. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) conducted an investigation after seeing the video and gathered sworn statements from the Filipino fishermen.

On Monday, PCG spokesman for West Philippine Sea spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said the PCG is planning to increase its presence at the shoal.

Also, Tarriela said the PCG is working with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to maintain continuous Philippine government presence at the shoal.

The PCG has said there was also no PCG or BFAR vessel in the area at the time of the incident.

There was also no Philippine Navy vessel at the vicinity of the shoal during the incident, Padilla said.

Padilla encouraged Filipino fishermen to continue fishing at