MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) drove away a Chinese maritime militia vessel and 24 small boats engaged in illegal fishing within the territorial sea of Kota Island in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) on Monday.
In a statement, the PCG said its personnel on Kota Island monitored Chinese maritime militia vessel (CMMV) 9622 at around 10 a.m., positioned about 1.2 nautical miles northwest of the island.
The vessel deployed 24 small boats or sampans, each manned by two individuals.
The boats spread out at roughly 50-yard intervals and were later observed circling within 300 yards of the island while fishing.
At around 11 a.m., a five-member PCG team from Coast Guard Station Kota was deployed aboard a rubber boat to challenge the Chinese vessels.
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The PCG said CMMV 9622 ignored its radio challenges, with its crew acknowledging instructions to leave only through hand signals.
The militia vessel and all 24 small boats immediately withdrew upon the arrival of the PCG team.
All five coast guard personnel returned safely to their station, with no untoward incident reported.
The PCG described the deployment of two dozen small boats from a single militia vessel as “a force-multiplying tactic that extends the mothership’s reach and reinforces Chinese presence under a civilian appearance, without resorting to overt coercion.”
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It said fishing by foreign vessels without Philippine authority within Kota Island’s territorial sea violates Philippine sovereignty, fisheries laws, and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The PCG added that the Chinese vessel’s refusal to respond to radio challenges disregarded basic norms of good seamanship.
Kota Island is part of the Municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan.
The PCG said it would sustain its presence on and around the island and continue challenging and driving away foreign vessels operating illegally in Philippine waters, as well as disclosing such activities to the public.
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