The Philippine flag flies on Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
The Armed Forces still has no official report of the incident involving Chinese patrol boats driving away - and ramming one boat of - Filipino fishermen off Masinloc, Zambales, despite Coast Guard confirmation.
AFP Chief of Staff General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said Wednesday he was still awaiting an official report that the Chinese coast guard repeatedly shooed away Filipinos from their traditional fishing grounds in the vicinity of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal off Masinloc, Zambales.
At one point, according to initial reports, one of the Chinese patrol vessels rammed a Filipino boat. No one among 29 Filipino fishermen onboard was injured in the incident that happened 9 a.m. last Friday (Jan. 30). The outrigger of the rammed boat was destroyed, though.
“We will look into that. I have not yet received any report,” Catapang told reporters in an ambush interview at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Panatag is well within the Philippines' 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) based on the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The territory is just 230 kilometers (124 nautical miles) from Masinloc town on the Luzon mainland.
Beijing has been accused of using its military might to grab the territory, based on its “9-dash-line” claim in the South China Sea.
That 9-dash-line claim - on the basis of which China claims over 90 percent of the SCS - was described as "excessive" by Manila when it filed its complaint before the UN Arbitral Tribunal at The Hague in late 013, over the objections of Beijing.
Besides Masinloc, China has moved to grab Ayungin Shoal, a reef situated within the municipality of Kalayaan Island Group in Palawan.
Philippine authorities have recently expressed alarm over stepped-up reclamation activities by China in another area inside KIG, indicating, said experts, a determination to enforce occupation and possession of the entire island chain.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/104405/afp-awaits-report-on-chinese-vessels-ramming-of-pinoy-fishing-boats-on-panatag-shoal
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