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Philippines to file diplomatic protest over China’s plane harassment

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Michael Delizo

Pia Gutierrez

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/17234398846201723439879123.png" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This Philippine Air Force release from 2018 shows an NC212i light lift airplane. <em>PAF Facebook page</em></span></span></span></div><div><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Manila will file a diplomatic protest on the Chinese Air Force’s dropping of flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane patrolling over Bajo de Masinloc last week, top officials said Monday. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said China should abide by international law and de-escalate tension in the West Philippine Sea. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Hindi natin puwedeng pabayaan ito… Kung hindi, nag-a-acquiesce tayo,” Teodoro told reporters in a chance interview. </span><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/10/afp-says-chinese-planes-dropped-flares-in-path-of-paf-patrol-over-bajo-de-masinloc-1620"></a></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/10/afp-says-chinese-planes-dropped-flares-in-path-of-paf-patrol-over-bajo-de-masinloc-1620">AFP says Chinese planes dropped flares in path of PAF patrol over Bajo de Masinloc</a><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/11/marcos-condemns-chinese-air-force-s-aggression-over-scarborough-shoal-1402">&#x27;Illegal, reckless&#x27;: Marcos condemns Chinese air force&#x27;s aggression over Scarborough Shoal</a><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo said the National Maritime Council would meet within the week to discuss the incident and come up with an appropriate response. </span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Definitely, we will protest,” he added, noting that the incident happened at a time of “calming down” in the tense waters.</span><br/><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The incident comes after the Philippines and China convened the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea (BCM) in Manila on July 2, where the two nations committed to lowering tensions.</span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“China always said it wanted to de-escalate, but every time, of course, na may nangyayari na ganito, certainly, it tends to raise tensions. So, it is something that certainly, we have to pay close attention to,” Manalo said. </span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Every time something like this happens, siyempre, you begin to think,” he added. “I don’t know why they did it. It took us by surprise.”</span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span id="isPasted" style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The Foreign Affairs chief said the Philippines was committed to settle the disputes through diplomatic and peaceful means. </span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><strong>&#x27;HOSTILE INTENT&#x27; </strong></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Meanwhile, National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said that China&#x27;s use of flares showed “hostile intent”. </span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">&quot;This is a serious escalation on the part of the People’s Republic of China,” he said in a televised press briefing.</span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/></div><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt">&quot;nananawagan po kami sa National Security Council, sa National Task Force West Philippine Sea sa China na tigilan na itong mga ganitong provocative actions against a routine mission by the Philippine Air Force kasi this undermines regional stability at the same time pinapababa rin nito ang pagtingin ng international community sa People’s Republic of China,” the official said. </p><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said a PAF NC-212i propeller-driven light transport airplane was conducting a “routine maritime patrol” over Bajo de Masinloc — also called Panatag and Scarborough Shoal — on August 8 when two PLAAF aircraft “executed a dangerous maneuver at around 9:00 AM and dropped flares in the path of our NC-212i.”</span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Bawal ‘yong ganong kalapit at maglabas ng flares in the path of another aircraft. That is wrong. Very dangerous, illegal po ‘yong ginawa nilang maneuvers na ‘yon, and provocative,” Brawner said. </span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The military chief said the AFP would continue conducting maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea. </span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><br/><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/8/11/afp-to-continue-routine-patrols-over-bajo-de-masinloc-2017">AFP to continue routine patrols over Bajo de Masinloc despite recent incident from Chinese aircrafts</a><br/><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">Teodoro said China’s recent action is expected to become a “continuous pattern.”</span><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"></span><br/><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">“Ito ay continuous na struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you will have to expect this thing to happen,” he said.</span></div>

<p>Manila will file a diplomatic protest on the Chinese Air Force’s dropping of flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane patrolling over Bajo de Masinloc last week, top officials said Monday. </p>

Manila will file a diplomatic protest on the Chinese Air Force’s dropping of flares in the path of a Philippine Air Force plane patrolling over Bajo de Masinloc last week, top officials said Monday.

Philippines to file diplomatic protest over China’s flare dropping

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Philippines to file diplomatic protest over China’s flare dropping

Michael Delizo,

Pia Gutierrez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Aug 12, 2024 01:31 PM PHT

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Updated Aug 12, 2024 05:22 PM PHT

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