THE PHILIPPINE military on Tuesday said it had spotted about 50 Chinese vessels within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea, many of them surrounding the disputed Scarborough Shoal.

Five Coast Guard ships, 18 maritime militia vessels and 10 fishing boats from China were seen near the shoal, which is a traditional fishing ground, AFP spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla told a news briefing, citing monitoring data as of 4 p.m. on March 11.

Six Chinese fishing vessels and one coast guard ship were spotted at Second Thomas Shoal, and one coast guard ship and six fishing boats near Thitu Island, she added.

Ms. Padilla said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) would continue its rotation and resupply mission to all features in the western section of the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
After the rotation and resupply mission at Patag and Lawak stations on Feb. 18 to 21, the military’s Western Command [conducted] another mission at Rizal Reef and Likas station on March 3 to 6, she said.
“The next rotation and resupply at Pag-asa (Thitu), Kota, Panatag and Parola will be conducted in the first week of April,” she added.

The Philippine vessels were part of a regular mission to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino troops stationed at a grounded World War II-era ship at Second Thomas Shoal.

China, which claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, has ignored a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed tribunal that voided the claim for being illegal.

Last week, two Chinese Coast Guard and four maritime militia vessels harassed and blocked Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel BRP Malabrigo while it was en route to Scarborough Shoal, Raymond M. Powell, a fellow at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, said in an X post.

The Chinese ships “repeatedly employed dangerous swarming and bow-crossing maneuvers over 21 hours starting after midnight 7 March,” he added.

At least four Philippine Navy officers were injured early this month after China’s coast guard fired water cannons at one of two wooden civilian boats used in a resupply mission for Filipino troops at a remote outpost in the South China Sea, according to the Philippine National Security Council.

The water cannons from two Chinese Coast Guard vessels shattered the windshield of Unaizah Mae 4, causing minor injuries to at least four personnel on board, it said.

It also accused a Chinese coast guard vessel of executing “dangerous maneuvers” against the escort ship, leading to a minor collision that resulted in “superficial structural damage” to the hull of the Philippine Coast Guard vessel.

The incident happened while President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. was in Melbourne for a three-day summit between Australia and Southeast Asian nations. On March 4, he vowed to push back if China continues to violate Philippine sovereignty and sea rights.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy said it is set to take delivery of two guided missile corvettes being built at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea.

“The first corvette will be coming in during the second semester of next year,” navy spokesman John Percie Alcos told the same briefing.

They have been training officers who will man the new ship, he said.

Mr. Marcos told Australia’s Parliament on Feb. 29 he would not allow any foreign power to take “one square inch” of the country’s territory, and that Manila was firm in defending its sovereignty.

“I will not allow any attempt by any foreign power to take even one square inch of our sovereign territory,” he said in a speech.

Australia and the Philippines started their first joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea in November, aimed at countering an increasingly assertive China, which claims the entire sea as its own.

The South China Sea is a conduit for more than $3 trillion (P168.5 trillion) worth of ship-borne commerce each year and is a major source of tension between the Philippines and China. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza

THE PHILIPPINE government on Tuesday said it would limit the deployment of Filipino seamen to vessels that sail through known global hotspots after a recent missile attack by Iran-backed rebels on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

“Manning agencies are following the directive of the government to limit the presence of Filipino seafarers or [give] them the option to refuse,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Eduardo A. de Vega told a news briefing at the presidential palace.

Houthi rebels attacked the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier M/V True Confidence on March 6 while in the Gulf of Aden, killing two Filipino crew members whose bodies were yet to be recovered.

“Houthi attacks occur practically daily on ships traversing the area,” Mr. De Vega said. “And this is the first time we’ve had Filipino injuries or casualties.”

He said the Department of Migrant Workers in mid-February updated its list of “warlike and high-risk areas” to include the Yemeni coast.

“Under such classification, in a war-like operation area, the seafarers have to be given the right to refuse sailing, with repatriation at company cost and compensation equal to two months of wages,” he added.

“If they continue to go, they have to have a bonus equivalent to their basic wage or double compensation, obviously, also for death and disability benefits.”

Other high-risk areas include the Gulf of Guinea near Liberia-Ivory Coast and the Sea of Azov and Kerch Strait in Eastern Europe.

The Northern Black Sea Region, all ports in Ukraine, and the Black Sea are still considered high-risk areas after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr. De Vega said they expect more Filipino sailors to decline opportunities in areas where Houthi attacks have been persistent.

“The statistics show they are declining because there are few Filipino seafarers now aboard ships plying the route,” he said. 

Each of the 13 Filipino crew members who survived the missile attack on Mar. 6, including three who were still in hospital, were given P55,000 in cash aid, Mr. De Vega said.

Meanwhile, the Israel Embassy in Manila offered its condolences to the families of the Filipino seamen who died and the government of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.

“During these trying times, we express our solidarity with the Philippines and join in condemning terrorism,” it said in an e-mailed statement.

“The attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean violate the freedom of navigation, threaten the welfare of seafarers and impact the shipment sector, supply chains and prices of oil,” it added.

The Houthis, which are backed by the Iranian government, have been attacking cargo ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in response to what it calls “heinous acts” by Israel in Gaza. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza