The Philippines filed its second diplomatic protest against China on Monday as Chinese vessels and an aircraft started harassing the M/Y Saranggani, a Philippine-registered boat doing archeological research near the Panatag Shoal, 124 nautical miles west of Zambales province.
 
Any act by Chinese ships or aircraft against the M/V Saranggani will be considered by the Philippines a gross violation of its national laws and of international laws, Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said in a statement.
 
China and the Philippines remain in a deadlock over the shoal the Chinese call Huangyan Island after diplomatic negotiations yielded no solution, Hernandez said.
 
The Philippines on April 8 tried to arrest Chinese fishermen found to have poached marine life in the area–also known by its international name Scarborough Shoal–but Chinese marine vessels blocked Philippine authorities onboard the BRP Gregorio del Pilar from doing so.
 
“This afternoon, we lodged a protest to China through the Chinese ambassador with respect to the harassment by Chinese ships and aircraft of the M/Y Saranggani, a Philippine registered boat doing archeological research in the area,” Hernandez said.
 
“Such actions are in violation of the sovereign right and jurisdiction of the Philippines to conduct marine research in the Philippines’ EEZ,” he said referring to the 200-nautical-mile excusive economic zone as spelled out under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and enshrined in the Philippine Constitution.
 
Based on Philippine and international maps, Panatag is also part of Zambales province’s continental shelf.
 
On board the M/Y Saranggani are French archeologists.
 
“The Philippines demanded that the Chinese ships and aircraft cease the harassments and fly-bys over M/Y Saranggani so that the boat and its crew can complete its work,” said Hernandez.
 
Discussions between acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Erlinda Basilio and Chinese ambassador Ma Keqing “still ended in a stalemate” on Monday, Hernandez said.
 
Despite the impasse, the Department of Foreign Affairs will continue to exert efforts to reach a diplomatic solution, he added. —VS/KBK, GMA News