By Chloe Mari A. Hufana, Reporter
THE PHILIPPINES’ Bureau of Fisheries said a Chinese maritime militia boat deliberately sideswiped one of its two vessels that were conducting a routine maritime patrols near Thitu island in the South China Sea last Friday.
The vessel had sustained dents in its starboard bow, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) said in a statement issued late Monday.
China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over confrontations near disputed features in the South China, with Manila accusing China’s coast guard of aggression and Beijing furious over what it calls repeated provocations and territorial incursions.
The Philippines has also accused China of maintaining a maritime militia to bolster its presence in the South China Sea. Beijing has maintained they are civilian ships.
Video shared by the bureau showed the Chinese boat with bow number 00108 approaching its vessel, BRP Datu Cabaylo, moving in close proximity before it collided with it.
“Despite the incident, the BFAR vessel maintained its position and was able to continue with its… mission,” the fishery bureau said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, including the Philippine-occupied Thitu, and has rejected a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague that Beijing’s expansive claims have no basis under international law. The case was brought to the court by the Philippines.
Last week’s maritime run-in comes in the wake of a regional summit of Southeast Asian leaders where Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. called for negotiations on a code of conduct for the South China Sea to be fast-tracked.
Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus B. Rodriguez urged the US to donate its USS Philippine Sea warship to augment Navy and Coast Guard patrols around the archipelago, including in the South China Sea.
“I am sure that it will be a big asset in our efforts to defend our territorial waters, our sovereign rights and our personnel and fishermen from intruders,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.
The congressman said he wrote separate letters to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd James Austin III and US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson asking for the donation. The warship is set to be deactivated in 2025.
The USS Philippine Sea is a Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser in active service with the US Navy.
The lawmaker in his letters said the USS Philippine Sea was “named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II.” The warship has been deployed many times including in Operation Enduring Freedom, the US global counterterrorism efforts from 2001 to 2014.
It was also recently deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean in response to the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Josue Raphael J. Cortez, an international relations instructor at De La Salle-College of St. Benilde, noted that if the US agrees, it could improve relations with the US.
“It can be an implicit signaling that the US is more than ready to assist us in times where our sovereignty and security are threatened, such as the ongoing tension with China over the West Philippine Sea,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat, referring to areas of the South China Sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
“On the other hand, this might affect the international relations dynamics of the country vis-a-vis China in such a way that the latter may view it as a security dilemma, and in turn deploy more and more naval ships capable of undertaking attacks within the disputed territories,” he added.
Mr. Rodriguez underscored the ship’s significance in Philippine history and its role in rescuing 26 Filipino crew members in a 2011 pirate attack off the coast of Yemen when the warship responded to the distress call of a supertanker.
“Given its historical significance and name, which directly relates to the Philippines’ current territorial challenges in the West Philippine Sea, I am urging the US government to consider donating this vessel to our country,” he added.
The US Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment. — with Reuters