Philippines, US may conduct joint patrols in South China Sea

From the Philippine Star (Feb 11): Philippines, US may conduct joint patrols in South China Sea

The Philippines and the United States may conduct joint patrols in the South China Sea this year, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday.

“Possibly. Depending on discussions that are being undertaken now at lower levels,”  Del Rosario told journalists when asked about the joint patrols  during his annual get-together with the media at the Diamond Hotel.

He said the patrols in the disputed maritime region might involve other countries as well.
“It could be multilateral depending on how the discussions go,” he said.

When asked if the possible joint patrols with the US would be raised during the US-ASEAN Summit next week, Del Rosario said it might not be tackled since it was discussed during the recent 2+2 ministerial meeting with top US officials.

“We’re looking to see how that might work,” he said.

The USS Lassen began its patrol in the South China Sea last October.

The guided-missile destroyer reportedly received orders to travel within 12 nautical miles of Panganiban (Mischief) and Zamora (Subi) reefs in the South China Sea, both at the heart of a controversial Chinese island-building campaign that has soured ties between Washington and Beijing.

The US said its military will continue air and sea patrols in international waters even after the Chinese navy repeatedly warned a US surveillance plane to leave the airspace over artificial islands China is creating in the South China Sea.

The Philippines voiced support for the US freedom of navigation operations in the disputed area.
US Ambassador Philip Goldberg said the conduct of freedom of navigation operation has been done by the US for 70 years as Washington made a commitment to do the operations on a routine and regular basis.

Meanwhile, the Philippine military is coordinating with their Vietnamese counterparts in the rescue of a Filipino fisherman whose boat sank and drifted off Sinh Ton Island (Sin Cowe) in the Spratlys.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said they have yet to receive an official report on what happened to the Filipino fisherman.

Vietnam’s Thanhnien News identified the rescued Filipino fisherman as 34-year-old “Anthongradule of Nasungpo, Batangas,” probably referring to Nasugbu.

The report added the rescued Filipino fisherman is safe.

Vietnamese troops rescued him as he was hanging on to his capsized small boat last Monday.

The report quoted the rescued fisherman as saying that his group left Batangas port last Feb. 3 to fish in the Spratlys and arrived in the area three days later.

While in the area, five of them boarded one of 10 small boats, with each boat manned by five to 10 people deployed by their mother ship to conduct fishing.

However, the rescued Filipino told his Vietnamese rescuers that their boat was battered by big waves and capsized. He said he was lucky enough he was able to stay afloat by clinging to the capsized banca.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/02/11/1551906/philippines-us-may-conduct-joint-patrols-south-china-sea