PCG denies deal with China on maritime cooperation

MANILA, Philippines, March 24 ------ The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has distanced itself from a supposed maritime cooperation with China, including on joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea, as announced by the Chinese ambassador. “As far as the PCG is concerned, based on my last conversation with the commandant, we are not involved in crafting this coast guard cooperation with China, specifically regarding plans for joint patrols,” PCG spokesman on West Philippine Sea issues Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said.

According to Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan, the draft coast guard cooperation agreement between the Philippines and China is 95 percent complete and could be finalized after the next round of political dialogues. He said such an agreement would ease maritime tensions through formal collaboration between Manila and Beijing on environmental protection, trash collection and search-and-rescue operations.

The Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) has repeatedly engaged the PCG in confrontations at sea, resorting to dangerous maneuvers and even water cannon attacks to intimidate or drive away PCG vessels and fishing boats. On Friday, Tarriela reported that Chinese forces launched flares and repeatedly challenged PCG aircraft on a maritime domain awareness flight near Panganiban Reef.

The PCG official was on a flight with a group of journalists after accompanying Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, who attended a moving-up ceremony on Pag-asa Island. “This is dangerous on our part because we cannot really expect how far the flares can reach the aircraft,” Tarriela said.

Source: philstar.com