Northern Luzon Command chief General Romeo Tanalgo on Friday said naval and air assets placed under the disposition of his command are conducting regular sovereignty patrols in the northern part of the West Philippine Sea amid reports by the United States about China’s plan for reclamation activities in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, a maritime domain well within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Panatag was seized by the Chinese Coast Guard and Navy after the April 2012 standoff with the Philippine Navy, when the latter apprehended and boarded Chinese vessels poaching in the area.
Beijing reportedly wants to convert Panatag into an artificial island just like what it did to some submersible island features within the Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan.
“Our naval and air assets have regular patrols from Benham Rise in the east and Panatag Shoal in the west. What assets I have right now, we use them for monitoring, search-and-rescue and interdiction operations,” Tanalgo said.
He declined to disclose details of the platform the command was utilizing but hinted that the Armed Forces of the Philippines had recently acquired assets to boost naval and air capability. These will then be used to patrol the country’s territorial waters and airspace.
“Nolcom provides the necessary search-and-rescue and patrol assets for efficient and effective enforcement of maritime law,” Tanalgo said.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration is expected to issue a decision on the case filed by Manila against China, contesting the latter’s excessive nine-dash line claim that encroaches into the exclusive zones of the former.
Many quarters believe that Panatag is a contentious issue between Beijing and Washington, a key ally of Manila. At a recent dialogue of defense chiefs held in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter warned China of “action” if it pursues her plan to again convert Panatag into an artificial island.
China responded though that it is ready for any “trouble.”
