Marcos: Not the right time to invoke Philippine-US Mutual Defense Treaty

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. asserted on Wednesday that it is not the right time for the Philippines to invoke its mutual defense treaty with the United States even as China’s coast guard resorted to violent actions that damaged Philippine vessels and injured Filipino navy personnel. in the South China Sea on Tuesday.

Other countries, including the US, have condemned China’s firing of water cannons at Filipino vessels on a resupply mission to a Philippine detachment in an area well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The US said it was in talks with the Philippines following the incident, amid questions on whether there’s reason to activate their 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which compels both countries to defend each other in case of an armed attack.

Mr. Marcos said he did not think the Chinese Coast Guard’s latest acts of aggression were enough reason to activate Manila’s treaty with the nation that arguably has the world’s most powerful military.

Still, the Philippines views with “great alarm” the Chinese vessels’ “continuing dangerous maneuvers and actions,” the President told reporters before his return to Manila from a three-day special summit between Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Earlier in the day, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller released a statement of condemnation of China’s actions and reiterated that the treaty covers “armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft — including those of its Coast Guard — anywhere in the South China Sea.”

On Tuesday, water cannons from two Chinese Coast Guard vessels shattered the windshield of Unaizah Mae 4, one of the two civilian boats contracted by the Philippine Navy for the resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era vessel that Manila deliberately grounded at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to assert its maritime claims.

The incident caused injuries to “at least four personnel on board,” according to the Philippines’ National Security Council (NSC).

Before the water cannon attacks, a Chinese coast guard vessel executed “dangerous maneuvers” against Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Sindangan, which was escorting the resupply boat, leading to a minor collision that resulted in “superficial structural damage” to the hull of the escort ship.

The other supply boat, Unaizah Mae 1, managed to deliver supplies to BRP Sierra Madre on Tuesday.

“This time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen and I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” Mr. Marcos said.

“Once again, we will make our objections known and hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such actions are no longer seen in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Mr. Miller said the Philippines and the US were “in discussions” following the Tuesday incident.

Philippine Foreign Affairs spokesperson Ma. Teresita C. Daza said in a briefing with security officials later in the day that “there are ongoing discussions and consultations between the Philippines and the US” on a number of cooperation, including those involving defense.

The Philippines has demanded that Chinese vessels immediately vacate the shoal, which is just 240 kilometers west of the Philippine main island of Luzon and is nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese landmass.

The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday summoned Chinese Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong to convey the Philippine government’s protest against the Chinese coast guard’s actions.

In a statement on Wednesday, Ms. Daza said: “The Philippines has made sincere efforts to implement leaders’ instructions to lessen tensions and have our Foreign Ministers and foreign ministries hold discussions. China, however, has made references to supposed agreements or arrangements out of these discussions.”

She said the Philippines has not entered into any agreement abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ and continental shelf, including in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal.��

Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr. said the Chinese actions within Philippine waters are “patently illegal and downright uncivilized.”

Following the incident, China said the Philippine government has “broken its promise,” a claim that it did not elaborate.

Manila also “deliberately staged a provocation and maliciously sensationalized the incident,” it added.

Mr. Teodoro said the People’s Republic of China once again attempted to “justify their illegal acts.”

He said “no right-thinking State” would believe in China’s claims, “which many outright condemn.”

“The PRC’s vain attempt to manufacture and sell this story falters in the face of real inconvertiable facts,” he said.

China has been asking the Philippines to remove its grounded warship from Second Thomas Shoal, which it calls Ren’ai.

Ms. Daza on Wednesday said Manila has never entered into any agreement abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

China claims the South China Sea almost in its entirety, but its expansive activities continue to gain international condemnation — thanks to a Philippine transparency strategy that seeks to expose its aggression at sea.

Mr. Marcos, 66, has been�� seeking the support of the US and other Indo-Pacific powers such as Japan and Australia as his government confronts China’s gray-zone tactics within the Philippine EEZ.

The Philippines’ increasing ties with the US is, for one, a result of ASEAN’s failure to come up with a unified approach to tensions in the South China Sea, said Jeffrey Ordaniel, director for maritime security at Pacific Forum and an associate professor of international security studies at the Tokyo International University.

In a joint statement on Wednesday, Australia and ASEAN recognized “the benefits of having the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability, and prosperity.”

“We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security and stability in the region,” it said.

CHINESE BUILDUP AT SHOAL
On Wednesday, a US-based think tank flagged that China’s maritime militia has increased its presence in Sabina Shoal with the deployment of at least 21 vessels there.

The 21 Chinese maritime militia vessels likely began arriving in Sabina Shoal, which falls within the Philippine EEZ, between Feb. 21 and 22 and they were seen “rafted” on March 5, said Raymond M. Powell, Sealight director at the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation.

Chinese militia ships had been spotted at Sabina Shoal two months into April last year and they were mostly spread out at that time, he said in an X message. “From late November until February, we really didn’t see any mutua there at all.”

Mr. Marcos, meanwhile, raised suspicion over the reported presence of Chinese research vessels in Benham Rise, which the United Nations in 2012 declared as part of the Philippines’ continental shelf.

“Once again, this is a clear intrusion into our Philippine maritime territory and it is, as usual, of great concern,” he said at the Wednesday briefing.

“The presence of Chinese ships in the area is absolutely unnecessary because if it is truly a research vessel, both sides could have come to a simple agreement for those research vessels to ply Philippine waters and conduct such research,” he added.

The 24-million hectare Benham was renamed Philippine Rise in 2017.

CHINA CANNOT BLOCK PHL MARITIME ZONES LAW
CHINA does not have the right to block a Philippine measure that would establish its maritime zones in disputed areas in the South China Sea amid the former’s aggression in the waterway, a Philippine senator said on Wednesday

“The Maritime Zones law of the Philippines is not just legitimate but also necessary,” said Senator Francis N. Tolentino, who sponsored Senate Bill No. 2492, which was approved on final reading on Feb. 26.

“China does not have the right to veto this. As a free and independent state, China cannot stop the Philippines from passing the law,” he told a press conference.

Mr. Tolentino said congressmen are still refining their measures seeking to stake the Philippines’ claim on parts of the South China Sea. The House of Representatives has yet to pass its counterpart maritime zones bill and a bill seeking to set up archipelagic sea lanes.

The Senate bill also seeks to set up maritime zones in the Benham rise in the West Pacific. It would allow Philippine authorities to impose a fine of as much as $1 million (P56 million) on foreign actors that build artificial islands, conduct marine research and destroy Philippine marine environments within the maritime zones.

At a news briefing on Tuesday evening, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said the Philippines should not have included in its proposed law the “illegal” 2016 arbitral award that rejected China’s claims on the waterway.

She said the bill undermines China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights over the South China Sea, citing the country’s historical claim over the waterway.

“The rendered award is illegal, null and void,” the Chinese official said. “China neither accepts nor participates in that arbitration, neither accepts nor recognizes the award, and will never accept any claim or action arising from the award.”

Mr. Tolentino said the ministry’s statement showed that China is already worried about the law’s effect on the international community even before it has been enacted.

“This means they cannot ignore this anymore (bill), they already reacted just after it was approved on third reading,” he said in Filipino. “Their opposition to the Philippine Maritime Zones Law shows that they are acknowledging it, though they are trying to put a semblance of insignificance (to it).”

Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel urged President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to fast-track the filing of a resolution to the United Nations General Assembly to call on China to stop the harassment of Filipinos in the South China Sea.

“At what point can we consider this to be unlawful aggression as understood under international law?” she said in a statement. “Raising this issue to the UN organ may be a way to give Chinese vessels pause before they attack our citizens.” — with a report from John Victor D. Ordoñez