No actions from Marcos despite Chinese attack on PCG vessel

THE PHILIPPINES has virtually surrendered its sovereignty to China after allowing Beijing’s continued harassment and aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

Filipinos took turns in lambasting President Ferdinand Marcos in social media and called him a “weak leader” for failing to defend the country’s territories against China’s aggression. They said PCG and civilian vessels are sitting ducks in the West Philippine Sea unless Marcos changes his policy.

Marcos stood firm that the Philippines will not resort to equipping the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels with water cannons following a recent attack by two Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels on a PCG vessel in the West Philippine Sea.

The CCG used a “jet stream pressure” water cannon against the Philippine vessels on routine humanitarian missions to Bajo de Masinloc.

Marcos said the Philippine Navy and the PCG will continue to lower tensions in the WPS.

“We will not follow the Chinese Coast Guard and the Chinese vessels down that road because it is not the mission of Navy, our Coast Guard to start, or to increase tensions. Their mission is precisely the opposite, it’s to lower tensions,” he said.

Marcos said the Philippines will continue defending the sovereign rights and its sovereignty in all diplomatic forms.

“No. We are, what we are doing is defending our sovereign rights and our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. And we have no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other such offensive…I would have to call them weapon dahil nakaka-damage na,” Marcos said.

“All we do is pagka-nangyayari wina-water cannon ‘yung mga barko natin ay nagpapadala tayo ng démarche, nagpapdala tayo ng sulat sa China and the other stakeholders,” he added.

A démarche is a diplomatic gesture to state a government’s position on an issue or subject.

While President Marcos emphasized that the Philippines will not use any “offensive weapon” against anyone, he said “the last thing” that the government would do “is to raise the tensions in the West Philippine Sea.”

The PCG said it was ordered not to retaliate despite CCGs harassment. 

“We have a chain of command. We respect the guidance of our President. The guidance of the President is that we should not be provoked, we should not be the reason for intensifying the escalation for China to justify once again bringing the next level of aggression kung anuman ang plano nilang gawin,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela. (Mindanao Examiner)