South China Sea: Philippine civilian convoy sails towards disputed Scarborough Shoal
- A coastguard boat escorted the flotilla carrying supplies to Filipino fishermen in the China-controlled reef
- The group was undeterred by reports of a ‘heavy presence’ of Chinese vessels near the shoal, saying ‘the narrative of peaceful assertion is clearly on our side’
Civilians on board Philippine fishing boats sailed on Wednesday towards a China-controlled reef off the Southeast Asian country to distribute provisions to Filipino fishermen and assert their rights to the disputed waterway.
The trip to the waters around Scarborough Shoal comes two weeks after China coastguard vessels fired water cannon at two Philippine government boats in the same area, in the latest maritime incident between the countries.
Waving tiny Philippine flags and chanting “the Philippines is ours, China out!”, about 200 people boarded five commercial fishing vessels that sailed out of a northern port in the morning, escorted by a number of tiny outriggers.
A few hours later, a lone Philippine coastguard boat met the convoy in open seas and stood guard as it handed out food and fuel to Filipino fishermen and dropped a dozen orange buoys marked “WPS is Ours”.
Later, the group issued a statement saying it would “proceed to the second phase of its voyage, aiming to reach the vicinity of Panatag Shoal for another round of supply distribution to Filipino fisherfolk in the area”.