DFA's Manalo: PH mulling possible approaches after ramming incident in Escoda Shoal

The Philippine government is contemplating on whether to lodge another arbitral case against China over the latest incident in Escoda Shoal where a Chinese Coast Guard vessel 'intentionally' rammed BRP Teresa Magbanua, Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said on Monday.

''Well, we're contemplating, at the moment, possible approaches to this issue. And I think siguro [maybe] in the coming days or weeks, we'll probably have a better picture of where we're headed for this,'' Manalo said when asked if the government would file another arbitral case against China amid the recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea.

Manalo said Manila has already reached out to Beijing and expressed displeasure over the latest incident.

''Well, we have made the necessary approaches to China in terms of contacting them through various means to express our complaint and displeasure at what happened. And not only that, our concern about raising tensions over what was basically just innocent movement by [the] Philippines vessel,'' Manalo said.

Manalo further said the Philippines was surprised by the incident.

Over the weekend, a CCG vessel "intentionally" and repeatedly rammed BRP Teresa Magbanua, which had been anchored on Escoda Shoal since April.

However, Liu Dejun, a spokesperson for China's Coast Guard, said in a statement that a Philippine ship, "illegally stranded" at the shoal, had lifted anchor and "deliberately rammed" a Chinese vessel.

The Chinese official further called on the Philippines to withdraw immediately or bear the consequences.

Escoda Shoal, also referred to as Sabina Shoal, is a coral reef formation with a central lagoon surrounded by discontinuous shallow sections.

It is a rendezvous point for Philippine vessels headed to Ayungin Shoal, another contested feature in the West Philippine Sea, where the World War II-era vessel BRP Sierra Made has been aground since 1999. Ayungin Shoal is also referred to as Second Thomas Shoal. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News