President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. graces the 125th founding anniversary of the Philippine Navy at the Navy Headquarters on Roxas Boulevard in Manila on May 26, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/FileMANILA  —  It is up to President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. to deploy the country’s warships in the West Philippine Sea following China’s latest maritime aggression this week, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Saturday. 

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG’s spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the decision to craft a policy recommendation falls on Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). 

This is after Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua “faced blocking, shadowing, and dangerous maneuvers” from a PLA Navy vessel near Bajo De Masinloc last Dec. 4. 

BRP Cabra, on the other hand, “was subjected to reckless maneuvers by CCG 3104 at a distance of 300 yards,” an earlier statement from the PCG said. 

“The Philippine Coast Guard has been deployed in the West Philippine Sea because we think for the past administration, it is de-escalatory, non-provocative. We were a victim of the Chinese propaganda that we were militarizing. So since then the Coast Guard vessels [have been] developed, modernized,” Tarriela said in a chance interview. 

“Right now kung ang issue natin is nobody’s going to militarize the South China Sea as a whole and not just the West Philippine Sea, bakit ang China nagde-deploy ng PLA Navy warships?” he said. 

17 Chinese warships spotted in West PH Sea

“It is up to the Armed Forces of the Philippines to carry out a policy recommendation to the President and the commander-in-chief, the President himself, has the full authority to decide on this,” he said. 

‘NOT A RECOMMENDATION’ 

Tarriela said this was still “not a recommendation,” though he confirmed that Philippine warships are patrolling in the West Philippine Sea. 

“In terms of reciprocity, that can be a policy option that can be carried out,” he said. “The Philippine Navy of the AFP have been continuously monitoring the situation in the West Philippine Sea but they don’t interfere on those harassments.” 

“This is the first time na ang warship ng PLA Navy also interfered and participated in the harassment of a PCG vessel,” he said. 

The PCG, he said, could never replace the Philippine Navy with the issue of territorial defense. The country’s Coast Guard was supposedly only meant to “assist” missions. 

He added that the PCG would support whatever the decision of the President and the AFP will be.   

“It is alarming in a way that PLA Navy warships are encroaching our exclusive economic zone,” he said. 

Furthermore, the PCG vessels, including the BRP Teresa Magbanua, faced blocking, shadowing, and dangerous maneuvers from PLA Navy vessel 500 and CCG 503. Additionally, BRP Cabra was subjected to reckless maneuvers by CCG 3104 at a distance of 300 yards. 

Asked if the PCG has an idea how many Chinese warships are in the West Philippine Sea, Tarriela said he has no latest data. 

PH 'reserves right' to deploy military ships after China's use of PLA Navy in latest WPS tensions 

Information from the Philippine Navy, however, showed there were 178 Chinese ships in the country's waters, including 17 vessels from the People's Liberation Army Navy scattered in many features, and two Chinese research and survey vessels in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) over the past seven days, from September 24 to 30.