NANAWAGAN ang Pilipinas sa Tsina na alisin na ang China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5901, o mas kilala bilang “monster ship,” mula sa katubigan ng Pilipinas.
“The Philippine government is alarmed by the presence of the monster ship,” ang binigyang diin ni National Task Force – West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya sa isang press briefing.
“And we have made a clear request and demand with the Chinese government to withdraw their ship. So let’s see what their response will be. We’ll take it from there,” aniya pa rin.
Sinabi pa ni Malaya na nagpalabas na ang Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) ng diplomatic protest laban sa presensiya ng monster ship.
“Since we have diplomatic mechanisms with the [People’s Republic of China], we will utilize all of those diplomatic mechanisms. I was told by the DFA that we will raise this matter,” aniya pa rin.
“They have already issued a diplomatic protest against the presence of the monster ship and that they will exhaust diplomatic efforts to also relay this message to the PRC that the presence of the monster ship is illegal and unacceptable,” dagdag na pahayag nito.
Samantala, sinabi naman ni Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the WPS na si Commodore Jay Tarriela na ang dalawang pinakamalaking vessels, ang BRP Teresa Magbanua at BRP Gabriela Silang, ay dineploy para itaboy ang monster ship mula sa Zambales coast.
“We have two Coast Guard vessels pushing the China Coast Guard 5901 to move further away from the coast of Zambales. That is the Philippine Coast Guard vessel Gabriela Silang 8301 and 9701 or the BRP Teresa Magbanua,” ang sinabi ni Tarriela.
Sa kabilang dako, sinabi ni Tarriela na ang monster ship ay matatagpuan sa 77 miles west ng Capones Island. Nauna nang sinabi ng PCG na ang presensiya ng Chinese vessel ay malapit sa Capones Island sa Enero 4.
Muli namang sinubaybayan ng BRP Teresa Magbanua ang monster ship matapos makaranas ng “minor” na gulo, Lunes ng umaga.
“I’m not an engineer to explain why there was an overheating. But right now the Philippine Coast Guard 9701 is back in the game. They’re once again blocking the China Coast Guard 5901,” aniya pa rin.
“It is not a serious derangement. It was just a very minor one. It only took them like less than six hours to probably give some time for all the engines to rest and then eventually went back to the location of the China Coast Guard 5901,” dagdag na wika nito. Kris Jose