The Philippine Coast Guard on Wednesday revealed that no buoys were lost in the West Philippine Sea following reports proliferated by Beijing-based Sohu.com that buoys placed by the PCG were deliberately removed by Chinese fishermen.
“We are confirming that the two allegedly lost buoys in Balagtas and Julian Felipe Reefs are intact and are on their locations. This was after PCG commandant, Admiral Artemio Abu told our men to conduct a Maritime Domain Awareness flight. It’s there and all accounted for,” said PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela during the Laging Handa Public Briefing.
Tarriela said in the event that the buoys will be lost due to unforeseen events, they will remain trackable as the buoys placed in the West Philippine Sea have global positioning systems or GPS locators.
“We will know if these buoys will be removed because they have GPS locators,” said Tarriela, adding that these buoys are also within the sight of personnel stationed in the vicinity where they were placed.
“We have eight navigational buoys that were within striking distance of our AFP troops and Coast Guard personnel — at Lawak, Likas, Patag and Pag-asa,” Tarriela said. “They are able to monitor the buoys and almost every day, our Coast Guard personnel are sending reports.”
In a separate radio interview, Tarriela said the China Coast Guard has expressed to continue the stalled joint committee meeting between the two coast guard units.
During the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte, Coast Guard Committee meetings have been transpiring.
“We kept on talking and meeting with them annually throughout the entire administration of former President Duterte, but we never really had a substantial agreement where we can say that we all agreed that they will not harass us anymore,” Tarriela said.
“We had an opportunity to meet with the China Coast Guard leadership, however, there was no substantial outcome,” he added.