The Philippines received 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccines last month, and recently, we got another shipment of 400,000. In between those two batches of goodwill, our friendly donor moored over 200 Chinese militia ships on Julian Felipe Reef or Whitsun Reef, just 175 nautical miles from Palawan, well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It was the Philippine Coast Guard who reported the sighting on March 7. On March 21, Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted that the government had filed a diplomatic protest. A DFA statement later read: “We reiterate that the continued deployment, lingering presence and activities of Chinese vessels in Philippine maritime zones blatantly infringe upon Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.” The diplomatic protest came after exchanges between defense agencies, including the Department of National Defense, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Task Force West Philippine Sea (NTF WPS).

From China with love. (2021, March 26). SunStar Bacolod, p. 4.