Following the recent ramming incident in Escoda Shoal, the area is still yet to be considered as a flashpoint of tension in West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Philippine Navy said on Tuesday.
“Sabina or Escoda Shoal is not a new flashpoint,” Navy Spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said, adding that this is the first time that such incident happened in the said Manila water features.
In fact, on June 17, CCG personnel rammed, towed, and even boarded Philippine Navy boats during the resupply mission for the BRP Sierra Madre, grounded in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal resulting in serious injury and 60 million pesos damage demand from Armed Forces of the Philippines.
On Monday, the National Task Force on the WPS Spokesperson Jonathan Malaya reported that Philippine Coast Guard vessels’ BRP Bagacay and BRP Cape Engaño encountered “unlawful and aggressive maneuvers” by China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels in Escoda Shoal, resulting in damage to both ships.
“Their actions are coercive and aggressive, their messages deceptive,” Trinidad said of the CCG. “This is the cause of all dynamics in the West Philippine Sea.”
“Sabina is not a flashpoint, it is the illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive activities of the agents of the Chinese Communist Party,” he added.
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