US assures PH of assistance

The standoff between the Philippines and China over Panatag Shoal, internationally called the Scarborough Shoal, finds the presence of 11 Chinese vessels (not 33, as earlier reported) in the disputed area claimed by both countries. President Aquino’s spokesperson Edwin Lacierda corrected the earlier figures that denoted an escalation of Chinese presence after being told by Commodore Edmund Tan of the Philippine Coast Guard that he had verified the number of vessels to consist of seven fishing vessels, two FEC boats and two maritime vessels.

At the same time, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin denied reports that Filipino fishermen were being barred by Chinese vessels from fishing in the lagoon ringed by rocks and reefs off the Zambales coast. But Gazmin also said that although there were times when there were more Chinese fishermen and times when “we had more fishermen,” Chinese maritime surveillance ships were always there. “We’re no match for them,” Gazmin said. At the present status of deployment of forces at the shoal, only the Coast Guard’s BRP Edsa II and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel are stationed there. The downgrading of the size of the Chinese deployment was intended to defuse rising tensions and prevent a violent confrontation in the area.

But the Inquirer reported from Washington on Wednesday that the United States had pledged to protect the Philippines from attacks in the West Philippine Sea (also known as the South China Sea). The pledge was made a day after China issued a warning over a territorial row in the waters. Gazmin said he had received the assurance during talks in Washington last week, in which the tensions with China over rival claims to the shoal were discussed.

Gazmin quoted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta as saying that the United States was not taking sides in the dispute but would honor its 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines. He said he understood that the assurance “includes [attacks] against island territories in the Pacific,” citing conditions for the allies coming to each other’s aid.

China claims virtually all of the West Philippine Sea as its own, including waters close to the coasts of other Asian countries.

The Philippines claims it has sovereignty over the shoal, pointing out that it falls within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. The shoal is about 230 kilometers from the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and 1,200 km northwest from the nearest Chinese land mass, according to Philippine Navy maps.

China warned on Tuesday that it was prepared for “any escalation” in the dispute with the Philippines, following an editorial in a newspaper run by the ruling Communist Party calling for a small-scale war to end the standoff.

The assurances from US officials came amid increasing doubts in the Philippines over US military assistance in the event of an attack on the Philippines. The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that China said it was prepared for tensions in the West Philippine Sea to escalate further.

According to the WSJ, the remarks, delivered during a meeting on Monday between Chinese Foreign Minister Fu Ying and Manila’s charge d’affaires in Beijing, Alex Chua, marked a significant uptick in the heat of the rhetoric between Beijing and Manila. Chua was summoned by China’s Foreign Ministry on Monday, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency, as part of the long-running dispute over Scarborough Shoal.

It is obvious that the Philippines has not realized that it is making serious mistakes and is stepping up efforts to escalate tensions instead, Fu said in a statement. “It is hoped that the Philippine side will not misjudge the situation and not escalate tensions without considering the consequences.”

The WSJ also reported that a spokesman of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Raul Hernandez, said in a statement that the Philippines was taking a “new diplomatic initiative” that it hoped would defuse the situation.

Amid these developments, the Philippines continued to procure naval weapons to beef up its weak Navy. The Manila Standard Today reported that the Philippines had bought two Hamilton-class cutters from the United States. The report said that Navy Flag Officer in Command Alexander Pama said the US Coast Guard had stripped the first ship of weapons before turning it over to the Philippines. According to the report, officials said the Americans would do the same to the second ship, which is expected to arrive before the end of the year.

The report said that Pama joined a group of Philippine officials led by  Foreign Secretary  Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary Gazmin that visited Washington recently, and that asked the Americans to restore the cannons, guns, and radar system, but that “up to now, the request still hangs.”

Asked if the second ship to arrive this year would also be weaponless like the first ship, Pama said: “It is the same as the BRP Gregorio del Pilar unless they change their minds.”