DAVAO CITY — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. today send a note verbale to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian following the Saturday incident when Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannon against Philippine Coast Guard vessels in Ayungin Shaol without any provocation.
The President said Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique A. Manalo went to see Ambassador Huang today and brought another note verbale together with pictures, the government will wait for China’s reply.
Marcos revealed that after the change of command in the Army, a command conference was held the incident was discussed and how the government respond to it.
These PCG vessels were escorting indigenous boats chartered by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to deliver food, water, fuel, and other supplies to military troops stationed on BRP Sierra Madre.
This developed as diplomats from the United States, European Union, Japan and Canada criticized China over the incident.
The said countries expressed support to the Philippines which has been suffering harassment in the hands of China Coast guard.
A Philippine Naval vessel – the BRP Sierra Madre – has been grounded at Ayungin shoal since 1999. The ship manned by more than a dozen Marines and sailors has become a symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the offshore territory.
Ayungin is located 105.77 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine province of Palawan and constitutes part of the country’s 200-nautical mile continental shelf as provided under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
“We continue to assert our sovereignty, we continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all these challenges and consistent with the international law and UNCLOS especially… that is always been our stand but we still have to keep communicating with the Chinese government, with President Xi [Jinping], with Beijing because we really need to come to a conclusion,” Marcos said.
