President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approved the acquisition of additional vessels from Japan and France, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Philippines will enhance its coast guard fleet with five additional 97-meter vessels from Japan and 40 more vessels from France.
“This information is an open book that the PCG would require more assets for us to safeguard our maritime rights, not just in the WPS, but for our entire maritime jurisdiction as an archipelagic country,” Tarriela said.
On Friday, the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) massive vessel 5901, commonly called the “monster ship,” was reported back in the waters near Bajo de Masinloc.
Tarriela added that two CCG vessels were seen in Bajo de Masinloc, while three others were positioned off the coast of Zambales.
“Well, right now, CCG 3304 and CCG 5901 swapped again. CCG 5901 is once again back in the vicinity of Bajo De Masinloc at a distance of 120 nautical miles,” Tarriela said.
“CCG 3304 is the one trying to replace 5901 as it maintained [China’s] illegal presence off the coast of Zambales at a distance of 105 nautical miles,” he added.