MANILA, Philippines – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thumbed down on Monday, May 6, a senator’s suggestion to equip Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships with water cannons as a defense from China’s harassment in the West Philippine Sea.

Play Video

Senate Minority Leader Koko PImentel floated the idea last week as a tit-for-tat move following Beijing’s repeated use of its water cannon against Philippine vessels.

In a chance interview with reporters, Marcos explicitly said no to the proposal, saying the Philippines has “no intention of attacking anyone with water cannons or any other such offensive.”

“The last thing we would like is to raise the tensions in the West Philippine Sea, and that would certainly do that, so hindi natin gagawin (we won’t do it),” Marcos said.

“We will not follow the Chinese coast guard and the Chinese vessels down that road because it is not the mission of our Navy, our Coast Guard to start or to increase tensions. Their mission is precisely the opposite, to lower tensions,” he added.

The international community criticized China last week for using jet stream water cannons against two Philippine vessels in Scarborough or Panatag Shoal on April 30.

The PCG reported damage worth P2 million in one of the ships, and said it “serves as evidence of the forceful water pressure used by the China Coast Guard in their harassment of the Philippine vessels.”

Reacting to the incident, Pimentel said: “Do our PCG vessels have their own water cannons? Dapat mayroon din (They should). Because we should be able to [use our] water cannon to those who we believe are violating our laws and sovereign rights up to our exclusive economic zone.”

Meanwhile report from Reuters on the issue quoted a spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry at a regular press briefing on Monday: “If the Philippines truly wants to de-escalate the situation in the South China Sea, it should immediately stop sending ships … and stop sending supplies to illegally grounded ships.”

Tensions have escalated between the Philippines and China in the West Philippine Sea since Marcos – who promised never to give up an inch of the country’s territory – assumed office.

Beijing continues to ignore a 2016 arbitral ruling won by the Philippines that invalidated its all-encompassing claims in the South China Sea. – Rappler.com