- 2 years ago
President Bongbong Marcos remains resolute in the country's claim in the West Philippine Sea even as China launches back-to-back aggressive acts in the disputed waters.
Foreign envoys condemn China for firing water cannons at Philippine vessels over the weekend.
And later, a Christmas convoy aborts its West Philippine Sea trip after Chinese vessels shadow the mission.
Menchu Macapagal speaks with Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela, and Fr. Edicio de la Torre, convenor of the ATIN ITO campaign.
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Foreign envoys condemn China for firing water cannons at Philippine vessels over the weekend.
And later, a Christmas convoy aborts its West Philippine Sea trip after Chinese vessels shadow the mission.
Menchu Macapagal speaks with Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela, and Fr. Edicio de la Torre, convenor of the ATIN ITO campaign.
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to The Source, where we combine the headlines with in-depth conversations with
00:07 the newsmakers themselves.
00:09 Sitting in for Pinky Webb, I'm Menchu Makapagal.
00:12 Today on the program, President Bongbong Marcos remains resolute in the country's claim in
00:18 the West Philippine Sea, even as China launches back-to-back aggressive acts in the disputed
00:24 waters.
00:26 Philippine envoys condemn China for firing water cannons at the Philippine vessels over
00:31 the weekend.
00:34 Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tariella,
00:39 joins us on the show.
00:42 And later, a Christmas convoy aborts its West Philippine Sea trip after Chinese vessels
00:49 shadow the mission.
00:51 Senator Edicio de la Torre, convener of the Atin Ito campaign, tells us more later in
00:57 the program.
01:08 President Bongbong Marcos says the country is unfazed after China's back-to-back aggressions
01:14 against Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend.
01:18 He slammed the provocations of the Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia after they
01:25 fired water cannons on the resupply convoy of the Philippines heading to Ayunyinshol.
01:31 He stressed only the Philippines has the legal basis to operate in the area, and the continued
01:38 harassment from China only further steeled the government's determination to defend the
01:43 nation's sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
01:48 Let's go straight to the source of this story, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea,
01:54 Commodore Jay Tariella.
01:56 Good morning, sir, and welcome to the program.
01:59 Good morning, Ms. Benchu, and also a pleasant day to all your viewers.
02:04 Well, back-to-back incidents in the West Philippine Sea this weekend.
02:10 First off, the Ayunyinshol incident.
02:13 Tell us how aggressive was China in this particular resupply mission?
02:20 Well, on the part of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, that operation is intended
02:27 to support the fishermen.
02:28 We're in the only mission is to provide a fuel subsidy and to distribute Christmas gift
02:34 packs to those more or less more than 35 Filipino fishermen who are engaged in fishing within
02:40 the vicinity of Bajo de Masinlo.
02:42 But even before the three Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources reached the destination
02:50 of the Filipino fishermen, the Chinese Coast Guard vessels already started doing their
02:55 dangerous maneuvers.
02:57 And the worst case is that they also did the water canning for more than eight times, that
03:03 one of the boats from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources had significant damage
03:09 on its communication and navigation equipment.
03:12 Okay, so this was the second incident, correct?
03:18 I'm sorry, I just mentioned what you mean second incident.
03:26 This was in Scarborough, right?
03:29 Yes, this happened in Bajo de Masinlo in Scarborough Shoal with a distance of somewhere between
03:35 1.4 to 1.9 nautical miles.
03:38 Okay.
03:39 So were you surprised though on the aggressive maneuvers or the aggressiveness that China
03:49 showed in these back to back incidents?
03:55 We were surprised in Bajo de Masinlo because before we have been doing this, we have been
04:00 distributing fuel subsidy and gift packs to the Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinlo
04:07 every time that the Philippine Coast Guard would monitor a large number of fishing vessels
04:12 in that vicinity.
04:13 We were surprised in a way that the Chinese Coast Guard vessels no longer hesitated to
04:19 use their water cannon and to the point that they even launched their rigid hull inflatable
04:24 boats to prevent the Filipino fishermen from receiving their fuel subsidy as they approached
04:30 the B-4 vessel.
04:32 But in the case of the resupply mission in Ayungin, they have been consistently like
04:36 this.
04:37 They carried out dangerous maneuvers.
04:40 They have already used water cannon before.
04:44 So this is something that we never really considered as something new except only in
04:51 Bajo de Masinlo.
04:52 Okay.
04:53 So in the Ayungin Shoal incident or in the Scarborough Shoal incident, not only did the
05:02 Philippine Coast Guard use their water cannon, but the Chinese Coast Guard, correct?
05:06 Yes, they used their water cannon for more than eight times.
05:10 Eight times.
05:11 So was the B-4 able to finish their mission in doing the resupply missions?
05:18 The intention is that all of the more than 35 Filipino fishing vessels to receive their
05:26 fuel subsidy, but because of this continuous and persistent aggressive behavior of China,
05:34 according to B-4, they were only to distribute the fuel subsidy for only like 20 or 22 something
05:42 Filipino fishermen.
05:43 Okay.
05:44 So what will happen to the other non-fishermen?
05:47 Will they return?
05:49 How?
05:50 I think the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources still intend to go back to Bajo
05:58 de Masinlo and to continue their distribution of fuel subsidy.
06:03 Okay.
06:04 As I said, on the part of B-4 and the Philippine Coast Guard and even the armed forces of the
06:08 Philippines, regardless how many this kind of illegal aggressive behavior of China they're
06:14 going to throw at us, we're still going to carry out these routine operations that we
06:19 intend to support the Filipino fishermen and also our troops in Ayunginsho.
06:22 All right.
06:23 Well, apart from the water cannons, may nakita rin bang floating barrier sa Scarborough?
06:29 Yes, Ms. Menchu.
06:33 Actually ang floating barrier na 'to nakita natin ng Philippine Coast Guard at the Bureau
06:37 of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources did an MDA flight.
06:41 Nakita natin from the sky na nag-layout ng floating barrier na naman itong China Coast
06:49 Guard dito sa southeast entrance ng Bajo de Masinlo.
06:53 And does the Coast Guard plan to remove the barrier once again?
06:56 Well, I don't want to discuss the operational details regarding this concern, Ms. Menchu.
07:03 I hope you understand.
07:05 All right.
07:06 Well, let's go back to the resupply mission, to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin.
07:14 How aggressive was China in this particular resupply mission?
07:17 Kasi dun sa Bajo de Masinlo, sabi nyo nga, eight times sila gumamit ng water cannon.
07:24 Comparing the two, how aggressive was China in Ayungin Shoal this time around?
07:31 Well, this time around, I think it's worth mentioning that the Chinese Coast Guard, for
07:36 the first time, deployed seven Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
07:41 And it was also supplemented by 14 Chinese maritime militia that were actively participating
07:47 in blocking the resupply contingent.
07:50 And as to their action, they used their water cannon five times.
07:55 Basically, they used it twice to the motor launch, one of the supply boats that is being
08:01 used, and then twice to each of our Coast Guard vessel.
08:06 And then they also did the water cannon to UNIZOM A1.
08:11 So in total, they used their water cannon five times.
08:14 Well, following the firing of the water cannons, what is the extent of the damage on the Coast
08:20 Guard vessel BRP Cabra?
08:23 Well, before discussing the damage on BRP Cabra, I think it's worth noting that the
08:34 most severe damage that had been poured because of this water cannoning is the motor launch
08:40 Kalayaan.
08:41 It's just so much damage that it wasn't able to continue its mission that the Coast Guard
08:48 vessel has to tow it back to Palawan.
08:50 Now, for the damage that we incurred for the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra, we
09:00 had some slight structural damage on our mast, but it is not that significant that affected
09:07 our navigational capability.
09:10 Okay.
09:11 Kumusta naman po yung crew na sakay ng BRP Cabra?
09:29 Ilan po yung nandun and kumusta sila?
09:30 Well, on the part of the Coast Guard, we're not going to be deterred.
09:31 Of course, the morale of our sailors on board the Coast Guard vessels who had been participating
09:32 in this kind of a supply mission remains high.
09:35 They are still high-spirited.
09:36 They still believe that this is their patriotic duty to sustain our supply operation in Ayungin
09:43 Shoal.
09:44 Okay.
09:45 What about the two Philippine boats, yung Unai Zame and the ML Kalayaan?
09:49 Kasi the Kalayaan, you were telling me earlier, it suffered the most damage, right, from the
09:56 water cannon.
09:57 So how are the crew doing of these two vessels?
10:04 I think also the same, Ms. Menchu.
10:06 They still want to pursue the next mission.
10:10 Their morale remains to be high as well.
10:12 All right.
10:13 We'll be taking a short break.
10:15 This is The Source on CNN Philippines.
10:17 Please stay tuned.
10:26 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines.
10:28 I'm Menchu Macapagal, our source today, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea,
10:33 Commodore Jay Tariella.
10:35 So Commodore, how many Chinese vessels were present in this particular mission?
10:41 Masasabi ba natin na ito na ang pinaka marami na na-monitor ninyo?
10:49 I think this is the largest number of Coast Guard maritime forces that we monitored for
10:55 this resupply mission.
10:56 As I said, they deployed seven China Coast Guard.
11:01 We monitored basically 14 Chinese maritime militia, and based on the AIS data that we
11:07 gathered, there were 22 Chinese maritime militia as well.
11:11 So in short, 22 plus 14 plus seven, that's more than 43 Chinese maritime forces.
11:19 And of course, not to mention those Chinese maritime militia vessels who have turned off
11:25 their AIS.
11:26 So I think this is the largest number of the Chinese maritime forces that the People's
11:32 Republic of China deployed to counter our supply operation.
11:37 Would you also say this is definitely the most aggressive that China has been so far?
11:44 Well, basically, they have been doing this before.
11:49 In terms of the level of aggression, I think that this has always been constant, persistent
11:56 dangerous maneuver, using water cannon, close maneuver, crossing our bow.
12:03 This has been their regular menu of actions every time we do our supply mission.
12:09 Well, the Chinese Coast Guard accused the Philippines of transporting construction materials,
12:16 and the Chinese Coast Guard said that they just implemented control measures.
12:21 So your reaction?
12:23 Well, actually, Ms. Menchu, my concern is, what do they care?
12:30 Whether this is just food, whether these are construction materials, whether these are
12:35 personal items of our soldiers, they don't really care about anything that we're going
12:39 to bring on board BRP Chiaramate.
12:43 Our union pulls within the exclusive economic zone of our country.
12:49 China is too far from this area.
12:52 The international law, the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, has clearly
12:57 stipulated that this part of the water falls within the exclusive economic zone of our
13:02 country.
13:03 The 2016 arbitral ruling also stated that China's selfish and abusive claim in the entire
13:11 water of the South China Sea holds no basis.
13:14 So I think there's no need for us to keep on explaining with the Chinese Coast Guard
13:19 that they are carrying out law enforcement action against the Philippine Coast Guard
13:25 because they don't have any authority over these waters anyway.
13:29 Well, you were also responding to claims made by some Chinese state media saying that UNIZA
13:38 May disregarded the warnings and intentionally rammed the Chinese Coast Guard ship.
13:45 Can you please elaborate on that?
13:47 Well, first of all, Ms. Menchu, the first statement that we should really consider first
13:56 is that what is the reason why China Coast Guard vessels are within the exclusive economic
14:02 zone of our country before responding to that statement.
14:07 Secondly, we have already released video wherein we already showed that it is the Chinese Coast
14:17 Guard vessel from the starboard side of UNIZA May 1 that keeps on getting closer on the
14:24 side of our vessel.
14:25 You know, Ms. Menchu, it's not a matter of perspective of the camera.
14:29 What they showed is, of course, the perspective of their camera.
14:33 If they don't move, it would appear that they are still on the straight path.
14:40 And the same thing with the video that we released yesterday, it clearly showed that
14:47 they are deviating from the straight route that they are taking.
14:52 So it's just a matter of perspective.
14:55 But then again, before we respond to that allegation, the question is, what are they
15:02 doing within our exclusive economic zone?
15:06 So for you, that is the bottom line.
15:07 Now, your reaction on President Bongbong Marcos' statement that we will not be deterred in
15:14 defending our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea?
15:21 Well, Ms. Menchu, I think this holds true with the spirit and morale of the armed forces
15:29 of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard and all government agencies in supporting
15:35 our effort in the West Philippine Sea.
15:37 The entire National Task Force West Philippine Sea, chaired by the National Security Advisor,
15:44 General Eduardo Año, and of course, with our corresponding commandant of the Philippine
15:49 Coast Guard, Admiral Lon Hill Gaban, that is true.
15:54 On the part of the Philippine Coast Guard, we'll never get tired of doing what we are
15:59 expected to carry out.
16:01 This is the patriotic duty of the Philippine Coast Guard, regardless how many times that
16:06 we're going to be illegally bullied by the People's Republic of China, no matter how
16:12 big their ships are, no matter what dangers that they're going to bring for us to be prevented
16:18 in doing our job, we are still going to persistently carry out this job.
16:22 Because for the part of the Philippine Coast Guard, the West Philippine Sea really belongs
16:27 to the Filipino people.
16:28 All right.
16:29 Now, let's go to the civilian-led convoy, Aten To.
16:33 They had to cut short their journey in Ayunginsol and Calayaan group of islands due to the behavior
16:40 of the Chinese vessels.
16:43 Was the PCG consulted on this?
16:45 Well, Ms. Menchu, I have to be straightforward on this.
16:51 The Philippine Coast Guard vessel on our voyage proceeding to Lawak Island, Melchora
17:00 Aquino, is the lead vessel in that convoy.
17:04 And Captain Felix Oka is just following from behind the Coast Guard vessel.
17:11 And when we monitor it, the Chinese Coast Guard from the right side of our voyage, that
17:17 it's coming close to the convoy with an approximate distance of three nautical miles, the Philippine
17:24 Coast Guard informed the KFO just to move ahead, just for continue our voyage proceeding
17:34 to Lawak Island.
17:35 But unfortunately, the master or the commanding officer of the ship's captain of KFO decided
17:42 to have a U-turn.
17:44 And we even called again the master of the Captain Felix Oka for us to maintain our voyage.
17:52 It will just be an ordinary shadowing of the Chinese Coast Guard, but he still insisted
17:57 and decided to go back to the port of El Nido.
18:00 So to respond to your question, Ms. Menchu, whether we were consulted, if the Coast Guard
18:05 would have been consulted, if we need to suspend or continue the mission, we should have pushed
18:11 for the continuity of the mission for us to proceed to Lawak Island.
18:17 But as what the statement of the Ateneto Coalition already released, they respect the decision
18:25 of the master of the vessel.
18:26 So in short, we were not consulted.
18:29 It was only the decision of the captain of the Captain Felix Oka to go back to the port
18:34 of El Nido.
18:35 Well, the behavior of China this weekend and the cancellation of the Ateneto Christmas
18:41 convoy with all of that happening, what kind of messages are being sent to the world?
18:50 Well, I don't want to have a negative interpretation of what had happened, but let me look at it
19:01 in a positive view, showing that even if this is a civilian convoy, of course, facilitated
19:10 by the civil society, the Chinese Coast Guard would not still be considerate for this kind
19:17 of mission to push through.
19:19 Despite the information campaign of the civil society that is related to their efforts for
19:27 the spirit of Christmas to give gifts to our troops, the Chinese Coast Guard never had
19:34 this hesitation to still deploy its Chinese Coast Guard vessels and even deported the
19:40 Pili Navy vessel to prevent us from doing such a humanitarian mission.
19:46 All right.
19:47 Thank you very much, Commodore Jay Targela.
19:50 And up ahead, we speak with Ateneto convener Edicio De La Torre on the Christmas convoy's
19:56 decision to abort its West Philippine Sea trip.
20:00 This is after Chinese vessels' recent dangerous maneuvers against Filipino vessels.
20:06 We'll be right back.
20:07 Stay tuned.
20:13 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines.
20:15 I'm Menchu Macapagal.
20:16 Our source today, Ateneto convener Edicio De La Torre.
20:20 Father, welcome to the program.
20:24 Good morning.
20:25 Good morning.
20:26 Ateneto Christmas convoy decided to unfortunately cut short its journey to the West Philippine
20:32 Sea due to the constant shadowing of Chinese vessels.
20:36 So tell us what else prompted this decision?
20:40 Well, I think the most immediate trigger was when the Chinese Coast Guard kind of inserted
20:49 itself, like in traffic, two cars and then in between.
20:55 I think the civilian captain said, "This is a civilian ship.
21:02 I am a civilian captain.
21:04 This is outside my direct experience and I would rather play safe."
21:10 It's true that the Coast Guard and others say, "We could still try."
21:15 But I think we all agreed anyway, you would expect a long discussion that, "Okay, let's
21:22 err on the side of caution because this is only the first of a series and we don't want
21:27 other future missions to be compromised."
21:33 Others would want to hesitate because we put people in harm's way in this first mission.
21:40 But generally, okay naman.
21:43 By the way, breaking news, may nakalusot pala.
21:48 The big ship had to turn back, but the smaller cargo ship which we rented and which was carrying
21:57 30% of the donations we have received, some five o'clock this morning, we got news from
22:04 the captain that they were able to land in Lawak Island and we have already pictures
22:08 of them distributing the donations to the frontliners there.
22:15 So this cargo ship, wala na pong sumunod sa kanila or bumuntot sa kanila hanggang nakarating
22:26 sila dun sa isla?
22:28 Kaya nga, because last night pa alam namin tuloy pa sila.
22:34 So we don't want to talk about it, baka biglang kabulin pa ng Chinese, which was then still
22:39 bumuntot pa dun sa...
22:41 Returning na to El Nido ang Felix Oca, sinusundan pa ng Chinese.
22:48 By the way also, ang mahalaga, this was the first experience for the captain of Felix
22:56 Oca ship.
22:57 But itong captain ng Chaui, bihasa na pala yan sa pagdadala ng supplies.
23:04 So marunong mag-discard.
23:05 So we were very happy na kahit paano may...
23:09 Substantial naman, 30% ng goods to be given ay nakalanding.
23:14 Otherwise kasi akala namin lahat dito na lang sa Palawan iiwan.
23:18 But for majority, it was the first time that they actually plied that route.
23:22 What do they feel na first-hand nakita nila ang situation sa karagatan?
23:28 Well, as usual, halo-halo na.
23:32 The young people were thrilled, adventurous, pero then nung nabod to turn around, frustrated.
23:39 Pagkatapos dahil sa Chinese, parang inis asar.
23:43 Halo-halo na.
23:44 Ironically, when the Chinese ship, the forwards really talagang visibly shadowed them, there
23:54 was a mass going on.
23:55 Kasi Sunday, Sunday mass.
23:57 And there are two priests at work.
23:59 So initially we couldn't contact the volunteers kasi lahat sila nagdarasal.
24:06 Sabi ko siguro nadagdagan ang taimtim nilang dasal dahil nakikita nila ang Chinese ships
24:13 shadowing.
24:14 Obviously younger people and all that medyo mainit yan.
24:18 Tuloy natin.
24:19 Mahabang debate.
24:20 In the end, agree lang.
24:23 Let's all agree on one thing na utapan malinaw from the beginning.
24:27 We are not seeking confrontation.
24:29 We will not put anyone in unnecessary harm's way.
24:31 Sabi nga na if it's an error, we err on the side of caution.
24:37 But despite this, would you still consider the trip as successful in terms of sending
24:44 a message?
24:45 Well yes, I hesitate to use success because parang brabado.
24:52 Di naman kayo nakarating.
24:54 But then we're saying that's not the point.
24:56 That was the maximum.
24:58 But the main message are two.
24:59 One is that civilians can do an initiative in line with government but not dependent
25:06 on government.
25:07 But more important, we can mobilize quite a number of well-meaning people who want to
25:12 issue a clear message of solidarity with our frontliners but also are not ready to do protest
25:19 action, rallies and all that.
25:21 They would rather do a more solidarity type of action.
25:26 And more important, it's the first of a series.
25:29 That's why we want to make sure that the person has fewer risks and dangers.
25:33 Para hindi naman mag-menervius yang sasusunod.
25:37 Because offhand, based on the advisory ng Coast Guard, we should try raw is something closer
25:42 to summer, mas maganda ang weather.
25:45 So we're thinking already of kind of a post-Valentine type of mission.
25:50 So kung may Christmas mission ngayon may post-Valentine.
25:52 Hopefully better plan, mas marami.
25:56 And well again, we don't control China's reaction but what we concentrated is what we control,
26:02 our unity.
26:03 That's why we said, palakasin natin ang unity and our collaboration, partnership with the
26:07 government.
26:08 All right.
26:09 Maraming salamat.
26:10 Ate neto, Convener Edicio De La Torre.
26:15 Maraming maraming salamat.
26:17 Thank you for joining us here on The Source.
26:20 Sitting in for Pinky Webb, I'm Enshu Makapagal.
26:23 You're watching CNN Philippines.
26:26 [ Music ]
26:31 (dramatic music)
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