Latest developments in the West Philippine Sea once again expose China’s cunning and abuse of smaller nations like the Philippines. The case of BRP Teresa Magbanua’s withdrawal from Escoda Shoal — a territory well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and seven times farther, if not more, from China’s nearest port — is a glaring consequence of this aggression.
Blockaded by Chinese forces, our Philippine Coast Guard crew was driven to drink rainwater and scavenge water from air-conditioning units while surviving on lugaw (porridge). Cruel and brazen, this blockade strategy by China indeed exhausted our patriots.
Sad as it may be to admit, by all indications, China has won this round. The food blockade was effective, causing the BRP Teresa Magbanua to retreat.
This small victory will embolden China to push harder, enforcing their blockades elsewhere and risking the eventual abandonment of another of our courageous forces at sea: the crew of the BRP Sierra Madre over at Ayungin Shoal.
But Beijing better beware: any attempt to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal could provoke an international crisis. As Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. made clear, such an act would be nothing short of war.
Washington has already indicated it would respond under the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. The consistency in that is unmistakable. This isn’t just a rusty vessel, the Sierra Madre, but a bastion of Philippine sovereignty.
If the big man of China, Xi Jinping, thinks they are invincible in the face of territorial complaints from smaller neighbors, crossing this line with the Philippines may be different. It will never be easy for a country to find itself under the full weight of American military intervention and the scorn of allied nations.
For the PCG, what it urgently needs soon are bigger, better-equipped ships capable of storing ample provisions. Fewer resupply missions mean fewer confrontations and fewer humiliating retreats. A stronger presence demands stronger vessels — before China tightens the noose even further.
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