Published February 18, 2024
Earlier this week, a senior official of the Philippine Navy announced that it had deployed a warship off the waters of Palawan Island, its westernmost island, in order to “protect its maritime interests,” at a time of frequent stand-offs with Chinese vessels in the South China Sea.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Commodore Edward Ike De Sagon said that the BRP Emilio Jacinto, one of the Philippine Navy’s fleet of upgraded Jacinto-class corvettes, had departed for Palawan from Naval Base Heracleo Alano at Sangley Point in Cavite on Tuesday.
Noting that “tensions continue to simmer in the West Philippine Sea and our strategic interests in the region grow ever more vital,” De Sagon, the commander of the navy’s Offshore Combat Force (OCF), said that the ship “will serve as a reminder to all who would dare challenge our sovereignty that we stand ready and vigilant.”
He added that it would also “bolster efforts of safeguarding the maritime domain and interests in the country’s western frontier.”
The needle-shaped Palawan island lies in the west of the Philippine islands, facing directly onto the South China Sea, and is the jumping off point for most deployments to the features and islands that Manila controls in the Spratly Islands.
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SOURCE: www.thediplomat.com
RELATED: Philippines accuses Chinese boats of ‘dangerous’ actions
Chinese vessels shadowed a Philippine boat that was delivering food and fuel to Filipino fishermen to allow them to spend longer at sea and catch more fish. (Photo: AFP/Ted ALJIBE)
Published February 18, 2024
SOUTH CHINA SEA: The Philippines on Saturday (Feb 17) accused Chinese coast guard ships of “dangerous” manoeuvres after they repeatedly blocked a Filipino vessel delivering supplies to fishermen at a reef off the Southeast Asian nation’s coast.
The incidents happened near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal on Thursday and Friday, several days after the Philippine Coast Guard made similar accusations against Chinese boats in the same area.
Scarborough Shoal – a triangular shaped chain of reef and rocks in the disputed South China Sea – has been a flashpoint between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012.
Since then, Beijing has deployed patrol boats that Manila says harass Philippine vessels and prevent Filipino fishermen from reaching a lagoon where fish are more plentiful.
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SOURCE: www.channelnewsasia.com
RELATED: Philippines counts the cost of tough South China Sea stance against Beijing
Published February 18, 2024
The country is seen as an unreliable destination for Chinese infrastructure investment, while tourist arrivals from the mainland have fallen
Philippine politicians and tycoons have expressed concerns about the fallout from mishandling the South China Sea row
The Philippines has become a laboratory in responding to Beijing on the South China Sea row, taking the most risk but showing inconsistency and underwhelming results thus far. Its predicament explains why other Southeast Asian claimant states remain unlikely to follow its lead. The tepid reaction to Manila’s pitch for an Asean claimants-only Code of Conduct is indicative.As had happened in the past, lost economic opportunities and further erosion of Manila’s position in the flashpoint, relative to other disputants, may lead to a possible policy reversal in handling the maritime tiff come the 2028 presidential election.
As had happened in the past, lost economic opportunities and further erosion of Manila’s position in the flashpoint, relative to other disputants, may lead to a possible policy reversal in handling the maritime tiff come the 2028 presidential election.
