Paiigtingin ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ang pagpapatrulya sa Iroquois Reef sa West Philippine Sea (WPS) makaraang mamataan ang nasa 48 Chinese vessels na palibut-libot sa lugar.
Ayon kay PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriel, ipakakalat nila ang 97-meter at 44-meter coast guard vessels upang tuluyang mataboy ang Chinese vessels sa teritoryo ng bansa.
Nabatid na ang Iroquois Reef ay may layong 128 nautical miles mula sa Palawan at sakop ng exclusive economic zone ng Pilipinas.
“Currently, based on our last monitoring report, the Chinese maritime militia’s based in that area. The PCG and AFP, for this coming week, will be intensifying our patrol to make sure that they will leave Iroquois Reef,” ani Tarriel.
Sinabi naman ni Lt. Karla Andres, co-pilot ng light patrol aircraft ng Philippine Navy, nakagrupo sa tig-lima hanggang pito ang mga Chinese fishing vessels na namataan sa Iroquois Reef noong Hunyo 30. Gayunman, walang anumang fishing activities ang nakita ng mga awtoridad.
Lumilitaw sa naunang Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights, sinabi ng Wescom na 12 Chinese fishing vessel ang nakita noong Pebrero at naging 47 ngayong Hunyo.
“Itong [these] Chinese maritime militia, that’s their usual strategic objective. That is for them to occupy a particular maritime feature, to swarm the area for a very long period of time. Kung hindi mo sila mapapansin [if you don’t notice them], they will increase their number eventually,” dagdag pa ni Tarriela.
Binigyan diin pa ni Tarriela na bagamat nakikita na ang ilang Chinese vessel sa lugar, ito naman ang kauna-unahang pagkakataon na maraming Chinese maritime militia ang nakitang umaali-aligid sa lugar.
“Sa Philippine Coast Guard, we already had this experience of reporting this swarming of Chinese maritime militia. Sa aming pag-analisa, ang intensyon nito is to swarm a particular area and to take control of it,” ani Tarriela.
