MANILA, Philippines- Ang watawat ng Pilipinas ang tila direktang pinuntirya ng water cannon attack ng China Coast Guard nang magsagawa ang dalawang barko ng Pilipinas ng supply mission sa Bajo de Masinloc, mas kilala rin bilang Panatag Shoal o Scarborough Shoal, nito lamang Abril 30.
Ito ang makikita sa video footage ng Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) sa insidente.
Matatandaang nawasak ang mga barko ng PCG at ng Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) nang bombahin ng tubig ng mga barko ng CCG habang nagpapatrolya noong Abril 30.
Dahil dito, kagyat na nagsagawa ng masusing imbestigasyon ang Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) para matimbang kung ang water cannon attack ay maaaring maging basehan para sa pagsasampa ng panibagong diplomatic protest laban sa Tsina.
“We have to investigate. It’s difficult to actually already say it should be protested. The process in DFA is, when an incident happens in the waters, we have to have an official report coming from the PCG, from other agencies and the NTF. The report becomes a basis for the action that will be taken, whether it will be a protest, summoning or what,” ayon kay DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza sa isang panayam sa sidelines ng National Security Cluster Communications Workshop sa San Narciso, Zambales.
Subalit, para naman kay PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela, malamang na ang talagang target ng water cannon ay ang communication equipment ng BRP Bagacay. Gayunman, inamin nitong maaaring ito na ang “bigger deal” na ipinakita ng PRC lalo pa’t ang bandila ng Pilipinas ang tila tinarget ng water cannon.
“Sa question na flag ba talaga ang intention na target ng PRC? We can probably say that would be possible but the objective of the water cannoning sa nakaraang insidente is for them to terminate ang mobility ng PCG at BFAR vessels. We are relatively dependent sa ating communication equipment and navigation equipment,” ang paliwanag ni Tarriela.
“For us, ang target talaga nila are the antennas na nasa superstructure natin… Definitely, for viewers na makita na tinitira ang PH flag natin ng water cannon, napakasakit sa atin bilang Pilipino,” dagdag niya.
Dahil dito, hinikayat ng Manila ang Beijing na kaagad na lisanin ang Panatag Shoal at kalapit na lugar.
Ang protestang ito ay ipinahayag ng DFA direkta kay Chinese Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong, na ipinatawag araw ng Huwebes.
“A total of 153 diplomatic protests have been filed against Chinese illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea since the start of the Marcos administration,” ayon kay Daza.
“The deputy chief of mission was summoned and our protest was conveyed to them. We will expect that they will also give their narrative,” dagdag ng opisyal.
“The protest is important. Some people will say, we keep on doing it. But it’s important that it’s done because the protest signifies our position, tells them that we are not happy with what’s happening in the waters. It has both political and diplomatic importance. But the more important thing is, it is a legal document… When protests are made, they are not made hastily,” aniya pa rin sabay sabing “The protest becomes our way of saying and becomes a record that we are not agreeing to the narrative and to the misinformation that is being peddled by the other side. The protest has value on its own.”
Para naman sa PCG, hindi na kinokonsidera ng gobyerno ang aksyon ng Tsina bilang isang “gray zone tactics.”
“Because of our transparency strategy, the PH government no longer considers this as gray zone strategy. What we call this is an outright violation of international law; China is violating international law, and they are blatant offenders of the UNCLOS. They don’t also care about the IMO conventions. As far as our government is concerned, wala nang gray zone strategy ang China. For us, all their actions are unlawful actions. They are offenders of international law,” ayon kay Tarriela. Kris Jose
