PCG resumes patrol in disputed shoal
A PHILIPPINE Coast Guard (PCG) ship was now patrolling off Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, the National Security Council (NSC) has reported.
In a radio interview on Thursday, NSC spokesman Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya rebutted claims that the Philippines has surrendered its territorial control on Escoda after the withdrawal of another PCG ship, the BRP Teresa Magbanua, early this month.
«Definitely, I can say with confidence na hindi po tayo umatras dyan in the sense na parang ibinigay natin sa (that we did not retreat and gave it to) China. Nagkaroon lang po tayo ng (we just had a) repositioning,» Malaya said.
The Teresa Magbanua had to sail back to its home port in Palawan to resupply and to repair the damage to the vessel after it was rammed by a bigger China Coast Guard (CCG) ship last August.
Malaya said that National Security Adviser Eduardo Año made it clear that there would be a relief ship for the Teresa Magbanua.
Escoda Shoal is 75 nautical miles from Palawan and is well within the Philippine exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
«May Coast Guard vessel na po tayo na nagpapatrolya sa Escoda Shoal, so ang ginagawa naman po nung ating Coast Guard vessel ay bantayan, siguruhin na walang reclamations, siguruhin na walang ilegal na nangyayari dyan sa Escoda Shoal (We already have a Coast Guard vessel patrolling in Escoda Shoal. What our Coast Guard ship is doing is that it is guarding and ensuring that there will be no reclamations and other illegal activities in Escoda Shoal),» Malaya said.
Advertisement«So nagkaroon po kami ng shift sa aming communications na hindi na po natin ipapaalam but we can assure the Filipino people na hindi po natin ibinigay ang Escoda Shoal (we had a shift in our communications, we will no longer give details [on the ship's whereabouts] but we can assure the Filipino people that we did not give away Escoda Shoal),» he said.
Also on Thursday, media outlets in Tokyo reported that a Japanese warship cruised through the Taiwan Strait for the first time to assert its freedom of navigation.
The ship made the passage a week after a Chinese aircraft carrier sailed between two Japanese islands near Taiwan.
Japan's top
