PH Navy vessel avoids collision with China’s PLA Navy ship —WESCOM

The Philippine Navy’s BRP Benguet escaped a potential collision near Pag-asa Island after a People’s Liberation Army  (PLA) Navy missile frigate of China performed a dangerous maneuver on Wednesday, March 25, the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Western Command (WESCOM) said. 

“While conducting lawful operations, BRP Benguet encountered the PLAN vessel, which executed an unsafe and unprofessional maneuver by closing in and passing at a dangerously close distance,” said WESCOM in a statement. 

“Such dangerous maneuvers are provocative and constitute a clear violation of the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs).” 

Further, the WESCOM called on the PLA Navy to adhere to international rules. 

“The Western Command (WESCOM) calls on the PLA Navy to adhere to established international rules and norms to prevent incidents at sea. WESCOM will perform its lawful maritime operations with professionalism and resolve in exercising the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” it said. 

Pag-asa Island is located 277 kilometers away from mainland Palawan and is part of the Kalayaan island group within the highly-contested West Philippine Sea. Covering an area of 32.7 hectares, it is the largest among the Kalayaan islands. Vince Angelo Ferreras. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/LDF, GMA Integrated News