Joining the Philippine Coast Guard in the South China Sea

It felt like an earthquake: the thirty-meter Philippine fisheries vessel trembled as it got relentlessly hit by torrents of water from China Coast Guard ships near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the middle of the South China Sea on December 9, 2023. The water jet was so powerful that even a splatter felt like it was going to pierce through the skin.

 The captain of the ship, Armando Hacuela, shouted at once for all the crew and journalists to get in. Our ship and two others were hit by the water cannon at least five more times. The vessels were on a mission to provide food and fuel to fishers fishing and sheltering in the area.

Hacuela, who was worried for the ship’s equipment all throughout the incident, kept on steering the ship facing the China’s water cannon to secure the engine at the rear. The radar and antenna outside were damaged.

This was just one of Beijing’s increasingly aggressive actions in the recent years in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. Beijing has gone beyond its usual tactics of shadowing and blocking Manila's vessels particularly in and around the two major flashpoints: Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas Shoal, where a rusty old warship BRP Sierra Madre serves as Manila’s military outpost.

Beijing, which has effective control of Scarborough Shoal since 2012, and has restricted Philippine ships from going inside the shoal’s lagoon, which also serves as a shelter during bad weather. Fishermen had to find creative ways to catch fish in their traditional fishing grounds. Some choose to do it outside the shoal, some opt to fish at night when the China Coast Guard is resting, while a few others just quit fishing there.

Filipino fishers, less than a kilometer away from our ship, were on their wooden boats as they helplessly watched the repeated firing of the water cannons.

 “It was painful to see. We could not do anything,” said Jimboy Marquez, a 23-year-old fisherman. “Why can they do it in our territory?”

A blue and grey militia ship moved so close to our ship that we could see their angry faces. It was the first time I saw the crew of these militia vessels, or those that appear to be commercial fishing vessels but Philippine officials said are under the China Coast Guard.

From the militia ship’s bridge, a man shouted to us in Mandarin “zoule” or go away even as their ship was moving closer to us. Another man followed, shouting  “likaile” which was an order to leave. The next thing we knew, the militia vessel hit our ship thrice, damaging the ship's railings and scraping the right side of the hull.

A Chinese militia vessel rammed the Philippine ship carrying journalists. Photo: Camille Elemia

Sobriety and laughter

But despite these intense situations during missions, a glimpse inside Philippine ships would paint a different picture.

Whether in Scarborough Shoal or Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal), the crew had a steady grasp of Chinese tactics, routine, and schedules.

They would have their breakfast meals ahead of the expected start of the encounter. Sometimes, too, they would eat snacks inside the bridge while the cat-and-mouse play dragged on, with radio challenges from both nations in the background.

The crew of the fisheries bureau ship were exchanging jokes as the water cannon attack near Scarborough Shoal continued.

“Maybe the Chinese knew we haven’t bathed yet, that's why they’re showering us right now,” one male crew member said.

Out at Scarborough Shoal, Filipino fisherfolk face the towering presence of Chinese Coast Guard and militia ships — a stark David and Goliath encounter on the high seas. Photo: Camille Elemia

On the Philippine Coast Guard ship, the commanding officer, Emmanuel Dangate, would sip his comfort drink of hot milk while giving orders as the Chinese vessels were trying to block the PCG ship. The silent and calm Dangate would sometimes drop a joke or two while trying to outmaneuver the Chinese ships.

A mix of sobriety and laughter filled the Philippine ships’ bridges. This was the case on November 10, when stakes were higher with the PCG vessels ordered by their superiors to get as close as possible to the entrance of Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) amid Chinese ships’ blockade. When the PCG ships deployed three dinghies from the entrance to bring me and five other journalists to see the BRP Sierra Madre, the China Coast Guard deployed their own boats to continuously chase us until the very end.

These are the similar tactics that Chinese vessels use against Filipino fisherfolk and Philippine ships across the West Philippine Sea. But both fishermen and crew alike are determined to fight back, anyway they can.

Michael Santos, the fisheries bureau ship’s mission commander at the time, likened it to David and Goliath."Ang muta maliit man, nakakapuwing din." (We may be small, but we can still be that speck in their eye).

-Asia Media Centre

*The opinions expressed are those of the author