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China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, backed by two Chinese navy hovercraft, harassed and chased Philippine boats that carried marine scientists conducting surveys at Escoda (Sabina) Shoal near where the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) found crushed corals that had been dumped.
At a press briefing on Friday, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said the marine scientists, escorted by the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua, were conducting research at Escoda, about 139 kilometers west of Palawan, on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Tarriela said the harassment of the marine scientists was the latest committed by the CCG in the West Philippine Sea in less than a month.
He said a CCG vessel “intentionally rammed” a Philippine boat carrying a sick Navy sailor while other Chinese ships blocked other Philippine boats on a medical evacuation mission on May 19, the same day that the Chinese coast guard seized supplies for troops deployed on the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
Tarriela denounced that “barbaric and inhumane” action by the Chinese.
In the June 3 to June 4 incident at Escoda, China deployed four CCG vessels, two choppers, and a hovercraft to interfere with marine scientific research, he said.
At that time, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) also was conducting maritime exercises in the area. “Interestingly, the PLA Navy 987 contacted MRRV 9701 (Teresa Magbanua) informing us that they are going to have an amphibious drill or operation,” Tarriela said.
But before they informed the PCG of their drills, China already launched their hovercraft, he said.
“This is the first time the Philippine Coast Guard documented the deployment of (Chinese) hovercraft in the West Philippine Sea,” Tarriela said.
Hovercrafts are lifted by an air cushion so they could travel across water or land.
