PCG: Chinese Coast Guard ships detected near Pangasinan coast

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has detected two China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels operating within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the coast of Pangasinan.

In a statement on Sunday, February 2, PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said that the CCG vessels, identified as CCG-3301 and CCG-3104, were discovered approximately 34 nautical miles off the coast of Pangasinan through the PCG's Dark Vessel Detection program.

This prompted the PCG to deploy its islander aircraft to visually identify the vessels and initiate a radio challenge, according to Tarriela 

“At around 9:30 AM today, the PCG aircraft confirmed the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard vessels, identified by bow numbers 3301 and 3104. Notably, the CCG vessels did not respond to the radio challenge issued by the PCG,” Tarriela said. 

In response to this incursion, the PCG has dispatched two 44-meter vessels, the BRP Cabra and the BRP Bagacay, to Bolinao, Pangasinan.  

According to Tarriela, these vessels will address “the Philippine government's position against the normalization of illegal patrols by the People's Republic of China within the Philippines’ EEZ.”.

Driven away in Zambales

On Saturday, Tarriela said that the BRP Teresa Magbanua pushed CCG vessel CCG-3304 away from the coastline of Zambales.

In a statement, the PCG spokesperson said that BRP Teresa Magbanua asserted that the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard vessel were unlawful. 

“The PCG has consistently asserted that the actions of the China Coast Guard are illegal and in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which China is a signatory,” Tarriela’s statement read.

However, following the departure of CCG-3304, China deployed the CCG-5901, the vessel commonly referred to as the "monster ship." 

“Despite this, the PCG is effectively maintaining a distance of approximately 110-115 nautical miles from the coast of Zambales,” Tarriela said. 

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague sided with the Philippines, finding that China's claims in the South China Sea lacked legal basis, a ruling that China does not recognize.