MANILA — Tensions in the West Philippine Sea may escalate if Manila sends military ships to counter Beijing's alleged aggression in the waterway, an official of the Philippine Coast Guard said on Thursday.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said if Philippine Navy ships are sent to the resupply mission, China would also change its deployment plan and justify deploying its People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels.

"The reason why the [China Coast Guard] has been deploying its CCG vessels is because we are using civilian indigenous boats, only escorted by the PCG. To emphasize, PCG vessels are white ships. For them to counter-respond to this, they are deploying CMMVs [Chinese maritime militia vessels] and CCGVs [Chinese Coast Guard vessels]," Tarriela told ANC.

"If we are going to change the tone and deploy a warship instead of white ships, we can expect that the Chinese will also be escalating their projection of power and give them a better excuse to say that we are going to deploy our PLAN vessels as well," he said.

Tarriela acknowledged that resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal are a military operation. But he said that the Philippines did not want to militarize the dispute.

In delivering fresh provisions to troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippines relies on military-chartered boats, with Philippine Coast Guard ships acting as escorts.

"As we try to analyze how China responds to the resupply mission is that nothing has changed. That’s the only thing they can do right now—do water cannon, deployment of CMMVs, dangerous maneuvers. That has always been the stuff they are doing, anyway. At the end of it, we are still succeeding in doing our resupply missions," Tarriela said.

"We don’t need to provoke anybody. We don’t need to escalate tensions... That is something we are willing to take so we can still enjoy this status quo that it’s just us accepting this harassment, but not triggering the MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty) or having an armed conflict."

The Mutual Defense Treaty is a pact between the US and the Philippines to support each other in case of an armed attack.

MORE SUPPORT FROM INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY

Tarriela noted that the country has been receiving more support from the international community since launching its transparency initiative that exposes China's alleged aggressiveness.

“Every time the Chinese are doing that, the international community that supports us since 2016, pataas nang pataas. This is something na kailangan nating isama. With the number of countries na nagko-condemn 'pag ginagawa ng China ito, we don’t need to say na wala naman itong impact sa kanila,” he said.

Over the weekend, China Coast Guard vessels conducted dangerous maneuvers and fired water cannons on Philippine vessels conducting resupply missions to Bajo de Masinloc and Ayungin Shoal.

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