The Philippines National Maritime Council (NMC) said it would not send Navy ships to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal amidst recent incident of harassment involving Chinese Coast Guard and PLAN warship.

In a press conference, NMC spokesperson Undersecretary Alexander Lopez said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s directive is clear: the Philippines must not be the first to provoke.

Lopez explained that China had previously deployed a People’s Liberation Army warship to the area, but the Philippines has consistently avoided sending its Navy vessel.

He noted that deploying a Navy vessel would amount to a “warlike” posture.

He added that such encounters could lead to misjudgment and miscalculation, which the Philippines wants to avoid.

“So, hindi tayo magpapabawak kasi we do not know what will happen if two Navy vessels are there. Kasi doon pwede mangyari ang miscalculation, misjudgment. And that is the thing that we do not want.”

Lopez maintained that prudence, not weakness, drives the government’s stance, stressing that an escalation would harm not just Manila but also Beijing and the wider region.

“If ever it escalates, it is not in the best interest of our country. It is not even in the best interest of China for that matter or of the region. So, we might as well tone it down and bring it down to a level that we can manage.”

(If ever it escalates, it is not in the best interest of our country. It is not even in China’s best interest, nor for the region. So we might as well tone it down to a manageable level.)

Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said contingency measures are in place should tensions further escalate.

“Well, what the government is doing, in particular the Philippine Coast Guard, is to make sure that we are deploying skippers of the vessels who are excellent in seamanship skills,” he said.

“Contingency measures or plans are in place. So, sinasabi naman na yung hope, but actually we are planning for the worst scenario,” he added.

“Whatever happens, actually our government is prepared for anything without going into the details.”