Philippines to maintain constant presence in Escoda – NMC

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will maintain a constant presence in Escoda Shoal to prevent China from realizing its “fantasy” of controlling the region inside Philippine territory, an official of the National Maritime Council (NMC) said yesterday.

“We will maintain our presence in the area in whatever way – patrols, or we will loiter. We will not leave that area.We will be resolute,” NMC spokesman Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez said in English and Filipino during an interview with “Storycon” on One News.

“We will not leave Escoda. We will continue with our mandate, we will continue resupplying our personnel who are deployed in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

Lopez said President Marcos was clear in his directive that the Philippines will not surrender even a square inch of its territory to any country.

Lopez maintained that only the Philippines has a right to conduct activities in areas inside its exclusive economic zone, including Escoda Shoal, where Chinese activities have reportedly increased in recent months.

Last Saturday, a China Coast Guard vessel rammed the BRP Teresa Magbanua of the Philippine Coast Guard, which has been in the area for months.

Lopez maintained that China’s activities in the area are illegal and violates provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“They have no right there. Everything that they are doing there is illegal, especially their naval exercises,” he said in Filipino.

“They fantasize that the area is theirs, and they want to realize their fantasy through aggressive actions,” he added.

While the Philippines intends to have constant presence in Escoda, Lopez denied China’s claim that the country intends to ground Teresa Magbanua in the area, similar to the grounding of BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

“That’s why (Teresa Magbanua) lifted anchor last Saturday, to show that it will not be there permanently,” said the NMC official.

He did not expound on how the government plans to maintain constant presence in Escoda, saying that is an operational matter.

“We will not leave it. We will continue doing legal activities like patrolling, resupply missions and making our presence there felt,” he said.

Lopez urged Filipinos to rally behind the government, expressing dismay over those who parrot China’s narratives about the situation in the South China Sea.

“They do not have any legal document to support their claim. What they’re using is a supposed historical claim, which has already been debunked by the Arbitral Ruling in 2016,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, the Senate ratified the bicameral conference committee report on the proposed Archipelagic Sea Lanes (ASL) Law, which is expected to strengthen the territorial integrity and national security of the Philippines.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino said the adopted measure would help ensure the country’s maritime domain and strengthen territorial integrity and national security.

“The measure implements the provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea by designating the country’s archipelagic sea lanes and governing archipelagic sea lanes passage by foreign vessels and aircraft,” he added.

Once signed into law, Tolentino said the measure would be submitted to the International Maritime Organization, which will notify other countries of the new legislation.– Michael Punongbayan, Helen Flores, Cecille Suerte Felipe