Military says no Chinese structures built on Scarborough Shoal since 2012

THE military on Tuesday said it has not monitored any Chinese construction at Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea since Beijing gained control of the shoal in 2012, correcting an earlier pronouncement by Ambassador Jose Manuel Romualdez that China has turned the shoal into a military base.

- BY VICTOR REYES

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy's spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday, said: “We have not monitored any construction on Scarborough Shoal, except for the presence of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Navy, the Chinese Coast Guard and the maritime militia.”

Also monitored at the shoal were buoys that form barriers at the shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc.

“Apart from that, no construction has been monitored on Bajo de Masinloc,” said Trinidad.

China gained control of the shoal in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine government vessels. Since then, the Chinese have prevented Filipinos from fishing in the lagoon of the shoal.

On Romualdez’s claim that China has deployed missiles at the shoal, Trinidad said these could be missiles aboard Chinese Navy ships that are in the area.

“It is safe to assume that warships would have to be armed with different missiles. So missiles aboard warships could also be the same that would have been what the good ambassador was referring to,” said Trinidad.

“Not inside the shoal but on board the ships,” he stressed.

Senior Philippine and US officials met in Manila last Monday for the 12th Philippine-US Bilateral Strategic Dialogue, where an array of issues were discussed.

Among others, the two sides "committed" during the meeting to "continue and work to increase deployments of US cutting-edge missile and unmanned systems to the Philippines." Trinidad declined to say when these systems will arrive in the Philippines but said the deployment of this equipment is a welcome development.

"The AFP welcomes every opportunity to be able to train with modern weapons.