The Armed Forces chief, Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, on Wednesday said the military-style formation of about 200 Chinese vessels at a reef within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea was suspicious, prompting him to direct the Navy to monitor their activities and protect Filipino fishermen in the area. Also on Wednesday, former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, a critic of China’s maritime policy and actions, said Beijing’s COVID-19 vaccine donations to the country could be the Chinese government’s way of “softening the impact” of its encroachment into the West Philippine Sea. House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez also expressed concern about the timing of the presence of the Chinese vessels at Julian Felipe Reef off Palawan province, which were discovered on March 7, a week after the arrival of 600,000 doses of the vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech of China.

Yap, D., Santos, T. G., Aurelio, J. M., & Galvez, D. (2021, March 25). PH military chief Chinese vessels' formation suspicious. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A4.