Chinese vessels ‘swarming’ off Pag-asa island due to bad weather

The recently reported swarming of dozens of Chinese militia and fishing vessels in Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) was due to bad weather conditions, according to an official of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

At the Saturday News Forum, PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said that the number of Chinese ships within Pag-asa island’s territorial waters has gone down to over 30 from around 90 in the past few days. 

“If you are going to ask me what is the particular reason why the Chinese maritime militia started swarming dito sa Pag-asa, I would say it’s only because of the bad weather condition that compelled these vessels na mag-anchor malapit sa Pag-asa,” Tarriela said.

Despite this, the PCG official said that the presence of Chinese vessels within the country’s territorial waters remains a concern.

“On the part of the PCG and support of the AFP, everytime these Chinese maritime militias are entering the territorial sea of Pag-asa we are religiously challenging them and informing them it is part of the territorial sea of the Philippines, that they do not have jurisdiction over these waters and they have to respect our sovereignty,” Tarriela said.

Pag-asa Island is around 285 nautical miles from Palawan.

In June, the Philippines officially asked the United Nations to extend its boundary farther into the disputed South China Sea.

Citing Article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Manila said "a coastal State such as the Philippines is entitled to establish the outer limits of its continental shelf comprising the seabed and subsoil of the submarine areas extending beyond 200 nautical miles (NM) but not to exceed 350 NM from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured."

—VAL, GMA Integrated News