Array
The Philippines maintains a “persistent presence” in Scarborough Shoal even as China claims it managed to drive away a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel.
BFAR’s BRP Datu Sanday has remained in the waters of the sandbank — also locally known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal —since Wednesday, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, said on Friday.
Tarriela repudiated the statement of China Coast Guard (CCG) spokesperson Gan Yu that Chinese ships drove away BRP Datu Sanday from the shoal on Friday after “repeated dissuasion and warnings.”
“The persistent presence of [BFAR] vessel, BRP Datu Sanday … is consistent with the national laws and the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea,” Tarriela told reporters in a Viber message.
