‘Philippines-US joint West Philippine Sea patrols should not offend China’

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is just exercising its rights within its territorial waters, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said yesterday as it expressed belief that the ongoing joint naval and aerial patrols with the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) should not offend any party, including China.

AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said the three-day maritime cooperative activity (MCA) scheduled from Nov. 21 to 23 is a peaceful patrol mission aimed at promoting a rules-based international order in the West Philippine Sea.

“It is not meant to escalate the tension, and all our actions and intentions are in accordance with international laws and conventions (UNCLOS, COLREGS, CUES),” Aguilar told reporters yesterday, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, and Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea, respectively.

“It is a show of our firm resolve to assert our sovereign rights and jurisdiction, and commitment to uphold such conventions that promote peaceful resolution of maritime conflicts. We hope and expect China to do the same,” he added.

The AFP expects China to also abide by international conventions “because everything that we do is in accordance with international law,” according to Aguilar.

Specifically, he explained that the Philippines expects China to “also abide by international law and conventions that promote peaceful settlement of the conflict and the same convention that regulates their behavior at sea, so there should be no dangerous maneuver, there should be no harassment and there should be no use of water cannon.”

“On our end, we’re just following the conventions and laws that are in effect in the world, so I think there is no reason for any other party to take this activity against us or against the US because we are not violating any law here,” the AFP official said in Filipino and English.

“And if ever there is one party that will take action that can damage or will result in conflict, then it is their problem and it is they who are to be blamed,” he told Radyo 630 in a separate interview.

Asked what Philippine and US ships