WITHIN EEZ Aboard BRP Cabra, Provisional Ensign Gretch Mary Acuario issued the radio challenge to Chinese and Vietnamese fishing vessels, prompting them to disperse from the vicinity of Marie Louise Bank on June 30. —PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD
MANILA, Philippines — Philippne Coast Guard (PCG) authorities shooed away five Chinese and two Vietnamese fishing vessels near Marie Louise Bank, 272.24 kilometers off El Nido town in Palawan province, in another daring act to protect the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“To unidentified foreign vessel at Marie Louise Bank, this is Philippine Coast Guard BRP Cabra MRRV 4409. You are within Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone,” the PCG said in a statement on Sunday, quoting a radio challenge hurled by a female voice from its ship.
No response
The statement reported how the Cabra (MRRV-4409) successfully dispersed the seven foreign vessels on June 30 in the vicinity of Marie Louise Bank.
Using its long range acoustic device, the Cabra conducted the radio challenge after the encroaching vessels were monitored by radar and through its automatic identification system.
“You are requested to provide the following: name of vessel, intention, last and next port of call at Channel 16,” the voice was heard in a video footage of the PCG operation as telling the intruders.
It was the voice of Provisional Ensign Gretch Mary Acuario, a lawyer, who in May issued a radio challenge to seven Chinese vessels at Sabina Shoal in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese ships dispersed afterward.
The PCG said the team patrolling Marie Louise Bank received no response from the foreign vessels, which immediately left the area.
It said the Cabra also checked on the condition of 34 Filipino fishermen aboard the FB Xiroxira from San Jose, Occidental Mindoro province, that was monitored off the bank.
“The Filipino fishermen said they were able to conduct normal operations in the past two weeks without any untoward incident at sea,” the PCG said.
Maritime exercises
Over the past few months, maritime patrols recorded the presence of several Chinese vessels “scattered” over several maritime features covered by Palawan’s Kalayaan municipality and other parts of the country’s EEZ.
The PCG has stepped up comprehensive maritime exercises in the West Philippine Sea following the activation of Task Force Pagsasanay.
Its spokesperson, Commodore Armando Balilo, said the task force aimed to achieve operational and logistical efficiency to fully utilize the Coast Guard’s manpower and assets through a harmonized command and control, and supply chain, specifically in safeguarding Philippine waters.
“We are supporting the whole-of-nation approach in securing our maritime jurisdiction, especially the efforts of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea to undertake maritime security, maritime safety, maritime law enforcement, maritime search and rescue, and marine environmental protection roles in our country’s waters,” Balilo said in a statement.