President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has ordered the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Bureau of Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to maintain the country’s presence in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) amid China’s continued presence in Philippine waters.

In a Saturday news forum in Quezon City, PCG spokesman for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said the President has ordered them to continue the deployment in Bajo de Masinloc, in line with the administration’s “Bagong Pilipinas” campaign.

“We know for a fact na ang ‘Bajo de Masinloc’ is a traditional fishing ground ‘no for the Filipinos particularly ang ating mga kababayan sa Zambales, sa Pangasinan at in different parts dito sa coastal area ng Northern Luzon,” Tarriela said.

“Dahil dito, it is now the guidance of our President to have a rational deployment between the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to maintain our presence in Bajo de Masinloc,” he added.

Tarriela explained the PCG has maintained its presence in Philippine waters from February 1 to 9 while the BFAR deployed its personnel after their shift in conducting the rotational deployment.

He said the BFAR has deployed its BRP Datu Tamblot, or the MMOV-3005 and the Cessna Caravan, the RP-1077, and the Cessna 208-B and its aircraft that came from Clark, Pampanga.

During BFAR’s patrol in the area, Tarriela said the China Coast Guard vessel 3105 shadowed BFAR’s Tamblot when it reached a distance one nautical mile off Bajo de Masinloc.

“So dinikitan siya at from then on, hindi na siya binitawan. The entire presence ng BFAR vessel dito it was consistently shadowed by the Chinese Coast Guard vessel particularly this one – China Coast Guard 3105,” he said.

Tarriela assured the PCG and the government will maintain its presence in the WPS. PND