China Coast Guard vessel shadows, blocks PCG ship BRP Cabra

A China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel on Sunday shadowed and blocked the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra 170 kilometers off Zambales.

In Joseph Morong’s Sunday report on “24 Oras Weekend,” an exclusive video acquired by GMA Integrated News showed that Chinese vessel 3302 continued to approach and block the Cabra despite radio challenges.

At one point, the China vessel was only 16 meters from the Cabra.

In another video, the Chinese vessel could also be seen beside the PCG vessel.

PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said BPR Cabra was able to avoid collision.

“Dahil sa seamanship skills ng ating mga [Thanks to the seamanship skills of our] coast guard sailors, we were able to prevent them from delivering another possible collision. You can just imagine how much it would impact dito sa ating mas maliit na [the larger ship would have had on our smaller] coast guard vessel,” Tarriela said.

Tarriela noted that this was not the first time the China Coast Guard approached a PCG vessel.

He said the PCG’s goal is to prevent China from saying they have been patrolling the area for years.

Meanwhile, another CCG vessel was spotted following a vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Based on the monitoring of maritime security expert Raymond Powell, a 134-meter CCG vessel came close to the BRP Datu Bankaw earlier today.

The CCG ship was spotted shadowing the Datu Bankaw up to 100 nautical miles from the Busuanga Islands, Palawan.

In northern Batanes, a Chinese research vessel was monitored after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visited the Philippines.

During his visit, Hegseth announced that an advanced bilateral forces training will take place in Batanes.

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the Chinese Embassy for comment.

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said China’s continued aggression in the West Philippine Sea is one of the reasons why the Philippines wants to modernize its armed forces and procure fighter jets, which could be delivered in 2027 once the deal is pushed through. — BM, GMA Integrated News