Philippines not deploying Navy warships vs China

MANILA, Philippines — Following last week’s collision of Chinese ships near Panatag Shoal, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has maintained that Philippine Navy vessels will not be deployed to escort Filipino ships in the West Philippine Sea.

Vessels of the People’s Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard collided with each other while harassing a boat of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said no warships will be deployed.

“We will just follow the orders of the National Task Force on the WPS,” Brawner said yesterday at Camp Don Basilio Navarro in Zamboanga City.

“But we are preparing our forces. We have to make sure that our ships are always ready and we have enough supplies that will enable us to perform our operations in the WPS,” he added.

Non-deployment of grey ships does not mean that the military is not addressing concerns in the WPS, AFP spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad stressed.

“Naval forces and the AFP are maintaining maritime domain awareness and continuous maritime patrol in the area,” he noted.

The Navy has contingency measures and regular WPS patrols that will allow them to respond to and provide aid when needed.

National Maritime Council spokesman Alexander Lopez earlier said the Philippines will not send warships to Panatag Shoal and provoke trouble or create a “warlike” scenario in the area.

“We have increased our operational tempo when it comes to our outlying islands and detachments in the West Philippine Sea, the Northern Islands and Benham Rise,” Trinidad said.

More maritime cooperative activities will be conducted since China’s aggressions decrease during joint maritime activities between the Philippines and its allied nations, the military said.

“There’s a slight change in their actions, not a change in behavior. But the presence of foreign warships and aircraft, foreign forces, forces a change or results in a slight change in their actions. We notice that there are no coercive and aggressive actions each time there are foreign warships in our maritime domain,” Trinidad said.

“The Department of National Defense has been very strong in defense diplomacy. And there are more coming, more in the works. At the moment these are finalized, you will be informed accordingly,” he added.

Trinidad said there has been an increase in bilateral or multilateral maritime activities, noting that in 2023, there were only three events compared to 11 in 2024. — Pia Lee-Brago, Roel Pareño