Philippines to maintain constant presence in Escoda – NMC

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will maintain a constant presence in Escoda Shoal to prevent China from realizing its “fantasy” of controlling the region inside Philippine territory, an official of the National Maritime Council (NMC) said yesterday.

“We will maintain our presence in the area in whatever way – patrols, or we will loiter. We will not leave that area.We will be resolute,” NMC spokesman Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez said in English and Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News.

“We will not leave Escoda. We will continue with our mandate, we will continue resupplying our personnel who are deployed in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

Lopez said President Marcos was clear in his directive that the Philippines will not surrender even a square inch of its territory to any country.

Lopez maintained that only the Philippines has a right to conduct activities in areas inside its exclusive economic zone, including Escoda Shoal, where Chinese activities have reportedly increased in recent months.

Last Saturday, a China Coast Guard vessel rammed the BRP Teresa Magbanua of the Philippine Coast Guard, which has been in the area for months.

Lopez maintained that China’s activities in the area are illegal and violates provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“They have no right there. Everything that they are doing there is illegal, especially their naval exercises,” he said in Filipino.

“They fantasize that the area is theirs, and they want to realize their fantasy through aggressive actions,” he added.

While the Philippines intends to have constant presence in Escoda, Lopez denied China’s claim that the country intends to ground Teresa Magbanua in the area, similar to the grounding of BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

“That’s why (Teresa Magbanua) lifted anchor last Saturday, to show that it will not be there permanently,” said the NMC official.

He did not expound on how the government plans to maintain constant presence in Escoda, saying that is an operational matter.

“We will not leave it. We will continue doing legal activities like patrolling, resupply missions and making our presence there felt,” he said.

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