Philippines tells China to leave Panatag now, summons envoy

MANILA, Philippines — Two days after two of its ships were attacked and damaged with water cannons by the Chinese coast guard, the Philippine government yesterday summoned Beijing’s second highest diplomat in Manila to relay its protest and demand that Chinese ships immediately leave Panatag Shoal where the attacks took place.

“The Philippines protested the harassment, ramming, swarming, shadowing and blocking, dangerous maneuvers, use of water cannons, and other aggressive actions of China Coast Guard and Chinese Maritime Militia vessels against the vessels of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources en route to Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag),” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, as it summoned Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong over the incident which occurred last April 30. “The Philippines demanded that Chinese vessels leave Bajo de Masinloc and its vicinity immediately.”

The DFA said the Philippine vessels were conducting routine and regular humanitarian mission to Panatag Shoal when Chinese coast guard ships engaged them in dangerous maneuver and blasted them with powerful water cannons.

The diplomatic protest filed yesterday was the 20th lodged by the Philippines this year. Under the Marcos administration, the Philippines has filed a total of 153 protests.

The latest incident of Chinese aggression in Philippine waters sparked international condemnation. Philippine officials said supply missions for fishermen and for troops on the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal would continue despite Chinese harassment.

At a forum yesterday, Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad voiced support for another civilian supply mission being readied by Atin Ito Coalition, this time to Panatag Shoal.

The trip set for May 15 would be the second in less than a year to the West Philippine Sea by the Atin Ito Coalition, comprising cause oriented and civil society groups devoted to asserting the country’s rights over its territorial waters.

Its first West Philippine Sea mission in December 2023 – in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal – faced harassment from the Chinese coast guard and the People’s Liberation Army