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PCG's Top Comms Officer Calls For Voting Out Pro-China Politicians

China Coast Guard cutter CCG 5901, the largest armed law enforcement vessel in the world, loitering 60 nm off Zambales (PCG)
China Coast Guard cutter CCG 5901, the largest armed law enforcement vessel in the world, loitering 60 nm off Zambales (PCG)

Published Jan 20, 2025 2:03 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

On Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard's top uniformed spokesman weighed in on domestic electoral politics on his official social media channel, urging citizens to vote out politicians who would accommodate Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea.

In an unusual direct appeal to the public, Cdre. Jay Tarriela (PCG) called for the election of the election of "congressional members and senators who stand firmly with President [Ferdinand Marcos Jr.], rather than those who are pro-China or think that silence on this issue is acceptable." He cited polls showing that the overwhelming majority of Philippine voters want Manila to defend the country's maritime sovereignty. 

China claims almost all of the South China Sea as its own, including a large swath of the Philippines' western exclusive economic zone (EEZ). In the run-up to the Philippine election, China has deployed the world's largest coast guard cutter - CCG 5901, a cruiser-sized ship dubbed "the monster" by the Philippine press - to patrol the boundary of its "nine-dash line" claim, just 60 miles off the coast of Luzon. Philippine forces have tracked and monitored its presence for the past 16 days, broadcasting regular messages instructing the Chinese vessel to cease its "illegal" loitering and depart.  

The China Coast Guard and the Philippine Coast Guard clashed regularly over the past year around the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal, which are within the Philippine EEZ but claimed by China. Until a recent detente accord, the CCG routinely used physical tactics to block Philippine movements in the Philippine EEZ, including shouldering, water-cannoning, aggressive maneuvering and at least one opposed boarding. Several of these Chinese-initiated encounters resulted in the injury of Philippine servicemembers, but so far, Manila has refrained from responding with equivalent tactics, restricting the PCG to nonviolent presence and publicity operations. 

In recent months, the China Coast Guard's physical interventions have subdsided, but have been replaced by militarized presence operations involving the largest CCG vessels and surface combatants of China's PLA Navy. On shore, the Marcos administration has accused Beijing of waging an information-warfare and influence campaign within the Philippine political system to undermine popular support for Philippine maritime sovereignty.

"The politicians we elect this year will determine the future for our youth and whether they will have an [EEZ] they can still call their own," said the Philippine Coast Guard's Cdre. Tarriela in a statement Sunday. "The best way for any Filipino to support our cause is to vote for candidates who prioritize the sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction of our country in the West Philippine [exclusive economic zone]."