REALITY CHECK | Another grounding at Tubbataha shows PH Navy's incapacity to guard borders

From InterAksyon (Apr 9): REALITY CHECK | Another grounding at Tubbataha shows PH Navy's incapacity to guard borders

The latest grounding of a foreign vessel at the protected marine sanctuary of Tubbataha Reef has exposed the weakness of the country's territorial and maritime defenses, Philippine Navy officers acknowledge.

Colonel Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman on the West Philippine Sea issue, admitted on Tuesday that the Philippine Navy "cannot guard every nook and cranny of our maritime domain," owing to the country's porous borders and vast coastlines, as well as the Navy's own lack of resources.

The latest grounding of a Chinese fishing vessel comes barely three months since the grounding of a US minesweeper, the USS Guardian, on January 17. It took authorities over two months to completely remove the wreckage of the US ship.

Arevalo said that not only does the military have few ships and aircraft to patrol territorial waters, many of the ships are also performing other missions and "therefore do not and cannot stay on guard in a particular area all the time."

Despite these weaknesses, the Philippine Navy continues to exert all efforts to protect the country's territorial domains, Arevalo said.

"We are also hopeful that the procurement and delivery of additional ships and airplanes that are already in the pipeline will be realized soon to augment our extant capabilities," he added.

As of presss time, the Navy has yet to conduct an aerial surveillance of the grounded Chinese vessel due to poor weather. The 12 crew members of the ship are now in the custody of the Philippine Coast Guard.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/59005/reality-check--another-grounding-at-tubbataha-shows-ph-navys-incapacity-to-guard-borders