'Gorio could have forced Chinese ships to leave Panatag'

MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said Friday that bad weather could have forced the Chinese fishing vessels to leave Panatag Shoal.

“I guess this is really what they do during inclement weather. May Gorio noon tayo,” Gazmin said, referring to tropical storm Gorio that hit the country early this week.

Gazmin made the announcement as he confirmed that the Chinese ships, which have been occupying the shoal near Zambales province since April last year, has left the area.

“As far as the last air patrol that we conducted, there’s no more [Chinese] ships at Panatag Shoal,” Gazmin said at the sidelines of Friday's inter-agency disaster meeting headed by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) held at Camp Aguinaldo.

The Department of Foreign Affairs earlier belied reports that came out in The STAR that Chinese vessels deployed in Panatag have left area, saying that Chinese ships just come and go in the West Philippine Sea.

He said that as of Friday, no Chinese ship has been sighted anywhere near Panatag Shoal.

A rich and traditional Filipino fishing ground, located 124 nautical miles off mainland Zambales, the rock formation was illegally occupied by Chinese warships and surveillance vessels since April last year following a tense naval standoff.

The standoff came after China’s vessels blocked the Philippine Navy’s flagship, BRP Gregorio del Pilar, from apprehending Chinese fishermen and their fishing boats caught poaching into the shoal's lagoon.

The Navy flagship was then en route for its deployment in Northern Luzon in line with the government’s disaster preparation for the North Korean missile-launch when the standoff occurred.

Since the standoff, three to four Chinese warships, surveillance vessels and Fishery Law Enforcement Command took control of the area on a rotation basis.

The Chinese vessels enforced a 20-nautical mile and a three-layered maritime and naval security around the shoal, denying Filipino fishermen entry to the fishing site.

Gazmin, meanwhile, refused to comment when asked if the government is coming up with a plan to prevent Chinese ships from returning to the shoal.

“I cannot discuss that with you,” he told Camp Aguinaldo reporters.