AT AN August 2 meeting of the Coastal Law Enforcement Alliance Region (Clear) 7, a Philippine Coast Guard (CG) officer reported that five “vessels of interest,” all with Chinese names, four flying the Chinese flag, and one with Panamanian registry, entered Central Visayas from May to July 2025.
Of the five vessels, two – the mv Yin Cai and the Xin Hua Yuan – docked at the Port of Cebu City; one, the Jin Hai Run, docked at the Port of Toledo; another, the Hong Hao, at Mandaue City; and, the last – the Zhe Hai 519 – transited the coast of Anda in Bohol while enroute to Surigao.
I suppose that the ships, all large according to the CG officer’s report, had a legitimate reason for making a port of call to the places mentioned.
I can only “suppose” because I was not able to catch the rest of the report. My mind had wandered off to why the ships were called “vessels of interest.” And, more importantly, to why that specific term was used in a report to a body that includes the AFP VisCom, the Navy Navforcen, the CG, the PNP Maritime Group, the NBI, the Provincial Government and two other LGUs, two international NGOs and nine other national agencies.
The term “vessels of interest,” explained CG Rear Admiral Inocencio Rosario via Messenger last Aug. 5, is used for vessels “suspected to be doing something illegal. But it also refers to vessels believed to be violating International Maritime Organization safety rules.
In dealing with “vessels of interest,” opined the ex-chief of CG Station 7 and who now heads the agency’s Maritime Security Law Enforcement Command, authorities “can board the vessel for verification and can even conduct thorough or extended inspections procedures.”
This could explain why the CG escalated their report on the five Chinese ships to Clear 7 and to the powerful agencies that comprise it; for backup when it finally does board and inspect the next “vessels of interest” that calls on any port in the region.
There has been, as of late, an awakening of awareness and interest, among people living in provinces, towns and cities away from the West Philippine Sea, on the matter of China –represented by vessels flying her flag – intruding into Philippine waters.
This coincides with the launch of the AFP’s Communication Plan: Mulat [an adjective that Tagalog.com says means “with open eyes,” “educated,” or “trained”], which AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. says aims to bolster transparency, counter disinformation and enhance public awareness on the rights and interests of Filipinos in the region.
The defining element of the ComPlan is the use of the tagline "Our Seas, Our Rights, Our Future" in government statements and publication materials that, in turn, aligns and reinforces the 2016 arbitral ruling that upheld the Philippines’ exclusive rights to fishing, research, and environmental protection, over the territory.
Mulat involves the production and propagation of bite-sized content exposing Chinese belligerence at the West Philippine Sea, which the AFP clarifies as a segment of the wider South China Sea that falls within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, and which both the National Fisheries Research and Development Institute and BFAR say is 30 percent (3,257.70 km2) of the country’s coral cover.
Its more recent content, apart from China firing its Long March 12 rocket from Hainan and casting debris unto the coast of Palawan last Aug. 4, is China’s use of “soft-power tactics,” like offers of development aid, infrastructure projects, trade partnerships and “sister city” arrangements, if not to influence local executives in the coastal provinces near the West Philippine Sea, then to get good press.
The battle over public perception notwithstanding, the mere presence, not to mention the continuing buildup of Chinese vessels – whether it be Chinese Coast Guard, PLA Navy, or mere “vessels of interest” – in Philippine waters carries profound security, legal and economic consequences. Its foul berthing in the parlance of port operations.
Even a stalemate is problematic for it displaces fisherfolk who continue to face harassment and gear confiscation within their own traditional fishing grounds. It threatens their livelihood and our food security.
Already, much has been reported about the marine ecosystem damage in the area due to unregulated anchoring, dredging, and possible resource-extraction activities by Chinese ships around Pag-asa Island and the Escoda Shoal.
One could say that the flashpoint is too far away from Cebu City to warrant thought. This is until one asks where the fish that arrive by trucks to the Pasil Fish Market come from. (knrama@gmail.com)