MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Saturday confirmed the sighting of two Chinese marine scientific research (MSR) ships entering the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) near Siargao and Davao Oriental.
At a news forum in Quezon City, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Commodore Jay Tarriela, said the PCG had initially detected three MSR ships – the Xiang Yang Hong 3, Jia Geng, and Xiang Yang Hong 10 – about 257 nautical miles northeast of Santa Ana, Cagayan outside the Philippine EEZ on Nov. 17.
The Jia Geng was spotted once within the nation’s 200 nautical-mile EEZ near Davao Oriental on Nov. 14 while the Xiang Yang Hong 10 was seen east of Siargao Island, within the EEZ, on Nov. 20.
“For the EEZ, since the Philippines has sovereign rights to exploit and explore these areas, dapat for a foreign-flagged marine scientific research, dapat humihingi sila ng clearance (a foreign-flagged MSR should have requested a clearance),” Tarriela said.
“For the Coast Guard, we will communicate this to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and it is up to the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to take action regarding their presence.”
He said the vessels entered and passed through the waters but did not linger.
Still, the PCG will continue to monitor and document the vessels’ movements, he said.
As of Saturday morning, all three were spotted near the border of the Philippine EEZ or 211 nautical miles off Siargao Island.
“It is outside of our exclusive economic zone. However, we’re still monitoring itong paggalaw nitong Chinese research vessels na ito because at some point it entered our exclusive economic zone noong mga nakaraang araw (They are outside of our EEZ. However, we’re still monitoring their movement because, at some point, they entered our EEZ),” he said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila and the DFA have yet to respond when asked for comment. (PNA)