MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday that it formally protested China’s recent aerial maneuver against the Philippine Air Force plane conducting patrol in the West Philippine Sea last week.
This comes after pressure from several lawmakers urging the national government to file another protest following China’s “irresponsible, unprofessional, illegal, and dangerous acts” in the Philippine airspace.
While Manila confirmed that it filed a diplomatic protest against Beijing, DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza told reporters that the national government will continue its “de-escalatory approach to tensions in the West Philippine Sea.”
In a Monday interview, Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo stated that the recent actions by China caught the Philippines “by surprise,” particularly given Beijing’s repeated assertions of its desire to “de-escalate” tensions in the disputed maritime region.
Manalo said the National Maritime Council was scheduled to convene this week to address the incident and develop an “appropriate response.”
“China has always said it wants to de-escalate, but every time something like this happens, it certainly tends to raise tensions,” he said.
The PAF aircraft encountered eight rounds of flares fired by two Chinese fighter jets last week, which allegedly flew at a “very close” distance while Philippine authorities were conducting a routine patrol mission in Scarborough Shoal last Thursday, August 8.
The incident happened less than a month after DFA said it reached an agreement with Beijing regarding the rotation and resupply mission in the BRP Sierra Madre after another skirmish that led to a Filipino sailor losing his thumb during a violent encounter.
The DFA said that both parties agreed that the arrangement “will not prejudice each other’s positions in the South China Sea.”
Former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio earlier said the Marcos government needs to file another arbitration case against China for its continuous dismissal of the Hague ruling.
“Right now we’re catching up because natulog tayo during the last administration but the Marcos Jr. administration now is I think [on] the right track but my recommendation now is to file another arbitration case,” he told Orion Post in an ambush interview last Thursday, just hours before the aerial incident happened.
