PCG denies BFAR vessel intentionally rammed Chinese ship

The Philippine Coast Guard denied Wednesday that the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel intentionally rammed a China Coast Guard ship in Scarborough Shoal.

In a press conference, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela belied Beijing’s claim that BFAR’s BRP Datu Gumbay Piang intentionally hit the CCG ship on Tuesday.

“There's no collision that really happened. It was a BFAR vessel on stationary, subjected to a water cannon by two CCG vessels. And the CCG vessel did a sharp turn, enough to at least touch the bow of the BFAR vessel,” he said.

“So, there was no collision. It was their own, like parang ‘bump me’ something,” he added.

Two CCG vessels damaged the BFAR vessel with water cannons 

The PCG said the BRP Datu Gumbay Piang was conducting a resupply mission when the harassment happened. This resulted in damage to the Filipino ship and injured one crewman. 

Tarriela said the PCG and BFAR are set to submit a report about the incident to the National Task Force West Philippine Sea (NTF WPS) for appropriate actions.

“As far as the PCG and BFAR are concerned, we're going to submit to the NTF WPS an after-operation report of what had happened,” Tarriela said.

“And it's for the cognizant government agencies to take action whether through diplomatic, legal, or even asking them to settle for the damage,” he added.

Scarborough Shoal is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Tensions continue as Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Parts of the South China Sea that fall within Philippine territory have been renamed by the government as West Philippine Sea to reinforce the country’s claim.

The West Philippine Sea refers to the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago including Luzon Sea and the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has refused to recognize the decision. —AOL/ VAL, GMA Integrated News