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Philippines to continue to deploy vessels in contested South China Sea shoal
Philippine Coast Guard says the ship's return was not related to China's demand for Manila to withdraw its vessel, instead it was so it could be repaired and to attend to the crew's medical needs.
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This handout photo from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) taken and received on Sept. 15, 2024 shows the coast guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua as it arrives at a port in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. The Philippine vessel, having spent months anchored at a disputed reef in the South China Sea, has left the area for repairs and to attend to the crew's medical needs, PCG says. (AFP/via Philippine Coast Guard (PCG))
T
he Philippines will continuously deploy vessels in the contested Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea, its coast guard said on Monday after a Philippine ship returned to port after a five-month deployment there.
"We will sustain presence over these waters," Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson Jay Tarriela told a press conference.
The PCG's vessel, Teresa Magbanua, was deployed to Sabina Shoal in April to monitor what Manila suspects to be China's small-scale land reclamation activities in the area. It returned to port on Sunday.
Tarriela said the ship's return was not related to China's demand for Manila to withdraw its vessel, instead it was so it could be repaired and to attend to the crew's medical needs.
Sabina Shoal, which China refers to as Xianbin Reef and the Philippines as the Escoda Shoal, lies west of the Philippine province of Palawan, within the country's exclusive economic zone.
"Regardless of what size of vessel, regardless of how many vessels, the main objective and the commitment of the (PCG) commandant... is to make sure that at any one time, there will be a coast guard presence in the shoal," Tarriela said.
China's coast guard said on Sunday it would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in the waters under Beijing's jurisdiction in accordance with the law and safeguard its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests.
China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, overlapping into maritime zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
In 2016 the Hague arbitration tribunal voided China's expansive and historical claims, a decision Beijing rejects.
