By JJ Domingo
The Philippines has finally found a face saving way to withdraw its ships from the disputed waters around the Scarborough Shoal. Now it wants China to do the same.
Citing bad weather conditions brought about by monsoon rains and tropical storm Guchol, President Benigno Aquino ordered the two remaining Filipino ships in the area, a Philippine Coast Guard patrol craft and a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources research vessel, to pull out of the disputed waters on June 15.
Earlier, the Philippines and China ordered a repositioning of their vessels in the area in an apparent attempt to de-escalate the situation. As noted in The Diplomat, tensions began on April 8 when a Philippine frigate tried to apprehend Chinese vessels for allegedly poaching endangered marine life on waters that Manila claims to be part of its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). China then sent a flotilla of maritime surveillance vessels to prevent Philippine authorities from arresting the Chinese fishermen, prompting a tense three-month stand-off between the two sides.
Abigail Valte, Aquino’s deputy spokesperson, insists that Sunday’s pull-out was a unilateral decision made “to make sure the lives of the [Filipino] personnel would not be endangered [by the typhoon].” However, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters that China had also agreed to withdraw all its vessels from the disputed waters, hinting that a deal had already been cut between the two sides.
Read the full story at The Diplomat