Warship deployment in WPS up to Marcos

China brands US, other Phl allies ‘troublemakers’

- By EMMANUEL TUPAS

It's up to President Marcos to decide if he would allow the deployment of warships in the West Philippine Sea as a foil to China's growing aggressiveness in asserting its illegal territorial claim, a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said yesterday.

"The President himself has the full authority to decide on this but as far as the PCG is concerned, we are going to support whatever decision that the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and our commander-in-chief will carry out," Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea issue, said at a news forum when asked if there is now a need for the deployment of Philippine Navy ships in the country's territorial waters to counter China's hostile moves at sea, usually targeting vessels from the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

Tarriela said he sees no problem with the use of gray ships, but clarified he is not making a recommendation.

"All I am saying is that in terms of reciprocity, that can be a policy option that can be carried out," he said.

He maintained that as earlier pointed out by Marcos, the Philippines is a peace-loving nation that will never instigate a war, especially with its neighbors.

He said it is up to the AFP to bring up policy recommendations to Marcos, who as President is the commander-in-chief of the country's armed forces.

Tarriela declined to discuss in detail PCG's next move in the face of the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea last Wednesday when China coast guard and naval ships fired water cannons and rammed PCG and BFAR vessels in the vicinity of Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc.

The incident prompted Philippine authorities to file another diplomatic protest against Beijing.

He said that while Philippine Navy ships regularly conduct monitoring activities in the area, they don't interfere in operations of Chinese vessels even if they are harassing Filipinos.