Marcos rules out warship deployment to WPS

The Philippines will never be part of the escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), President Marcos declared yesterday as he rejected the deployment of Navy warships despite China's persistent aggression within Philippine waters.

- By HELEN FLORES

"We are not at war. We don't need Navy warships," he said. "Again, it will be provocative and will be seen as an escalation. We don't do that,"

"The Philippines does not escalate tensions. Quite the opposite, the Philippines always tries to bring down the level of tension," Marcos said. "All we are doing is resupplying our fishermen, protecting our territorial rights."

Marcos, however, stressed that the Philippines would continue protecting its rights over the territory.

"We are going to continue to perform our mission. We will never be part of an escalation in the situation in the West Philippine Sea," the President told reporters after an event in Pulilan, Bulacan.

"If we look at the evolution of the situation in the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines has never been an agent of escalation of tensions," he said.

On Dec. 4, China coast guard and naval ships fired water cannons and rammed Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels in the vicinity of Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc - a traditional Filipino fishing ground within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, an EEZ extends some 200 nautical miles or about 370 km from a country's coast.

On Nov. 30, a number of Chinese Navy helicopters hovered over Filipino fishermen in the WPS, prompting the PCG to deploy BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Cape Engaño.

The last time a Philippine warship faced off with Chinese vessels was in 2012 in Panatag Shoal, when it tried to stop Chinese poachers from escaping with their loot of giant clams, baby sharks and endangered marine resources.