Military: 10-12 Chinese vessels intruding Phl territory

MANILA, Philippines - About 10 to 12 Chinese vessels are intruding into Philippine territories in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), a military official said on Wednesday.

Col. Florante Falsis, assistant deputy chief of air staff for intelligence, said the number of Chinese vessels spotted in Philippine waters varies because of the ships’ movements.

“There are no permanent numbers because those ships come and go and I think the latest we have seen in the pictures, there are 10 to 12 (Chinese vessels),” Falsis said in an interview in Villamor Airbase, Pasay City.

Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado said the number of Chinese ships deployed could be dependent on the activities being conducted in the area.  

“I’m not privy to the intentions of the foreign ships there,” Delgado said.

“In the whole of West Philippine Sea, (there are) 10 to 12 (vessels) but it also trickles down. (There are) at least three or four so it is not constant, it changes from time to time. Probably it depends on the level of activities that they are pursuing out there,” he added.

Maj. Gen. Edgar Fallorina, chief of air staff, said it is likely that China is improving the structures it had built in disputed areas.

“We just have to look at the strategic level of what they are doing. Probably last year, you just found some structures in their area. Right now they are doing some dredging,” Fallorina said.

“By that observation alone you’ll probably come up with your own conclusion (on) what they intend to do with the area. In short they are trying to improve their presence,” he added.

China has been occupying disputed areas to assert its territorial claims, raising concerns among claimants who believe such actions violate international law.

It has built a garrison in Panganiban (Mischief) Reef off Palawan and has maintained its presence in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off Zambales.

China has also set up a naval blockade in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal to prevent the delivery of supplies to a grounded ship that serves as a Philippine military detachment.

The Asian superpower is also believed to be conducting reclamation in Mabini (Johnson South) Reef, Calderon (Cuarteron) and Gaven Reefs, areas that are well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

It is also planning to build an artificial island in Fiery Cross Reef, an area locally known as Kagitingan Reef and located south of Mabini Reef.

Early this year, a Chinese news network reported that the Chinese Navy already has a detailed plan to seize Pag-asa Island from the Philippines this year. The Philippines has built a town hall, a 1.3-kilometer airstrip, a naval station, a health center and a kindergarten school in the island, the second largest in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.

The Air Force has been conducting daily air patrols over the West Philippine Sea amid China’s aggressive expansion in the area.

“Just like their presence, we are equally concerned, we are equally bothered. We have to document these things so that we can raise this as an issue before the international (tribunal),” Delgado said.

Last year, the Philippines questioned what it described as China’s “excessive” and “exaggerated” territorial claims before an international arbitral tribunal. 

China, however, refused to reply to the Philippines’ complaint and insisted that it has “indisputable sovereignty” over areas in the West Philippine Sea.  

Last March, the Philippines filed a memorial or a written argument to the United Nations arbitral tribunal hearing its case against China’s excessive territorial claims.