Second Thomas Shoal is about 200km from Palawan, and more than 1,000km from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
The incident has fanned tensions between the countries, which have a long history of maritime disputes in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, and has ignored an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Philippine military Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner said Thursday during a visit to the Western Command in Palawan that the country needed to boost its presence in the waters.
“We have plans to deploy more ships, even our aircraft, to be able to guard our exclusive economic zone… we really have to establish our presence in the area, it’s all about numbers,” Brawner said.
China deploys hundreds of vessels to patrol the South China Sea and swarm reefs.
Its coast guard and navy ships routinely block or shadow Philippine boats in the contested waters, Manila says.
Beijing has defended its actions last Saturday as “professional”, and accused Manila of “illegal delivery of construction materials” to the grounded ship.
The Philippines has insisted that Second Thomas Shoal is within its exclusive economic zone, and therefore its efforts to resupply troops and repair the BRP Sierra Madre are legitimate.
Source: CNA
