00:00 The Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines
00:04 considered the drop in the number of Chinese maritime militia vessels in Julian Felipe Reef
00:09 from more than 135 vessels that were first monitored in Bajura
00:13 from November until last weekend.
00:16 As of our last count, there are only 28.
00:20 They drastically reduced from a high of 135 Chinese militia vessels.
00:27 In a hearing of the House Committee on the West Philippine Sea,
00:30 some lawmakers questioned why the authorities' response to this was so slow.
00:37 So, 135 in November 5 and 6, and then you reacted in December 2.
00:43 Don't you think our reaction there was too late?
00:46 The deployment of the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines
00:50 on a rotational basis, with the very limited assets that we have,
00:54 just to emphasize, we only have three vessels in Palawan.
00:57 And if you can just imagine how vast the West Philippine Sea is,
01:01 we cannot expect that the Philippine Coast Guard will be there 24/7
01:04 in Julian Felipe to watch over the swarming of the Chinese maritime militia.
01:09 In the ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea,
01:11 France is one of the countries that is focused on what is happening in the region.
01:15 Because of what's going on in the region and particularly the West Philippine Sea,
01:19 we are concerned. We cannot but be concerned.
01:24 That is why the defense and maritime security cooperation
01:28 that France is promoting is one of the Philippines'.
01:31 The two countries have agreed to start negotiations for a defense agreement
01:36 when French Minister for the Armed Forces,
01:38 Sébastien Lecornu, visited Manila recently.
01:41 We will start as soon as possible. And I would say we are ready to start.
01:48 Then the experience probably shows that this process can take time
01:53 because you enter into very specific legal and also military details.
02:00 It is also possible to join the agreement on the deployment of France
02:03 in maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea.
02:06 But we were ready to already.
02:09 It will cover and can cover all the fields of strategic armed forces,
02:16 air force, navy, interoperability of systems, etc.
02:22 We can do more.
02:23 The evolving cooperation between France and the Philippines
02:35 in terms of defense and security,
02:37 what kind of message does it actually send to the rest of the region
02:42 or in the Indo-Pacific region?
02:44 Well, thank you for recalling that indeed there is a political will
02:48 to strengthen the bilateral relationship in the field of defense.
02:52 It's kind of natural to be more concerned.
02:55 And we are particularly concerned when there is a risk under international law.
03:02 The French government also targets to have a defense mission
03:05 and defense attache in Manila next year.
03:08 Tristan Udalo, CNN Philippines
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