PH must brace for China's heightened aggression in WPS: officials

THE PHILIPPINES must brace for China's increasingly aggressive actions as it asserts its presence in the West Philippine Sea, ranking defense and military officials said Monday.

"Ito ay (It will be a) continuous struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you will have to expect these things to happen," Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said in a media interview in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

This comes in the wake of China's latest harassment where two aircraft of its People's Liberation Army Air Force performed dangerous maneuvers and dropped flares near a Philippine Air Force aircraft conducting a maritime patrol over the Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Aug. 8.

Meanwhile, Teodoro said the National Maritime Council is now looking into the incident.

He said Manila will continue to protest Beijing's aggressive actions.

Teodoro said having patrol planes escorted by FA-50PH aircraft, the sole fighter plane in the Air Force inventory, needs to be discussed.

He also called China's latest harassment a part of its "consistent behavior".

"They will stick to their narrative na alam natin (which we know) there is no support whatsoever, all they have on their side is brute force, and might and that's what they're going (to) do. Hopefully, they (will) listen to reason and heed the appeals of not only the Philippines but other countries to temper their moves and act in accordance with international law," he added.

Dangerous

In a separate interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. also called the acts of the Chinese aircraft "very dangerous".

"Very dangerous kasi for instance yung mga flare na yun ay nakarating dun sa ating aircraft, pwedeng mahigop dun sa propeller or sa intake or pwedeng masunog pati yung ating aircraft (it's very dangerous, as the flares, they could be sucked by a propeller or an intake, it also burned our planes)," he said.

Brawner also reminded all military pilots not to be intimidated by these actions and to continue with their maritime patrols.

"Sabi nga ni Secretary Teodoro, makikita natin na itong occurrence ng ito in the future so tuloy-tuloy pa rin yung gagawin nating pagpatrolya (like what Secretary Teodoro said, we will see more of this occurrence in the future so we will continue with our patrolling)," he added.

Filipino military pilots are also advised to conduct evasive maneuvers, per their standard operating procedure, whenever encountering foreign aircraft conducting dangerous maneuvers.

He said the AFP has reported the incident to the Department of Foreign Affairs and relevant government agencies. (Priam Nepomuceno)