Chinese boats crowding shoal

MANILA, Philippines - Fourteen Chinese vessels and fishing boats were monitored in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal on Tuesday night, the military said yesterday.

Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command spokesman Capt. Aurelio Kigis said seven Chinese fishing vessels, three fishing boats, three maritime surveillance vessels and a fisheries and law enforcement vessel were sighted inside the shoal as of 8 p.m.

“The continuing monitoring being undertaken by the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)… is meant to protect (the country’s) territorial integrity,” he said.

Kigis said Chinese Maritime Surveillance (CMS) vessel 71 was located 13.6 nautical miles away from Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Edsa 2.

CMS 75 is 3.3 nautical miles away from Edsa 2, while the distance between CMS 81 and the Philippine ship is 11.9 nautical miles, he added.

Kigis could not tell whether Filipino fishing boats have remained in the area.

Last Sunday, Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara said six local fishing boats had entered the shoal.

“Our Coast Guard is ready to protect the interest of our fishermen in that area,” he said.

Edsa 2 and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel MCS 3008 are continuously monitoring the situation.

Panatag Shoal is 124 nautical miles from the nearest base point in Zambales.

The area is within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The standoff with the Chinese began on April 10 when Chinese surveillance ships placed themselves between the BRP Gregorio del Pilar and Chinese fishing vessels, preventing the Philippine Navy from arresting the fishermen, who were found with illegally harvested corals and other endangered marine products.

The Philippines protested the Chinese vessels’ action but China insisted that it has sovereignty over the area.

The eight vessels eventually left the area, bringing with them their illegal catch.

China has rejected a Philippine invitation to bring the dispute before an international body.