By Priam Nepomuceno
MANILA – The Subi Reef is now serving as anchoring hub of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea, a Philippine Navy official said Thursday.
Philippine Navy (PN) spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad made this comment when asked about the continued presence of Chinese ships in the Ayungin Shoal, Escoda Shoal and Pagasa Island.
Earlier reports had 80 plus assorted Chinese ships spotted in Pagasa’s territorial sea.
“Makikita natin ang maraming pagtitipon ng mga (Chinese) Maritime Militia ay ‘yung malapit sa Pagasa sa Subi Reef at ‘yung malapit sa Ayungin na Mischief Reef sapagkat ‘yun naman ay mga enclosed haven, mga enclosed marina ‘yun so safe harbor nila ‘yun so dun ang maraming concentration ng kanilang mga Maritime Militia kasama na rin ang (People’s Liberation Army) PLA Navy at Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) (We saw that their Maritime Militia continue to gather near Pagasa through Subi Reef, and Mischief Reef which is near Ayungin as these features have enclosed havens, enclose marinas, which are considered safe harbors for them, so there is a lot of concentration of Maritime Militia ships along with the PLA Navy and CCG in these areas),” he added.
Trinidad said the Subi Reef is serving as a terminal or parking area of the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM).
The PN official said there are some days when around “150 to 200” CMM ships are known to concentrate there
Trinidad attributes this to Chinese reclamation that resulted in the development of Subi Reef into a naval base in the past years and making it more capable of hosting CMMs, PLAN and CCG ships with its enclosed marine and close harbor.
Chinese occupation of Subi Reef started in 1988 while reclamation activities commenced in 2014.
Subi Reef also has a runway, ports and harbors, storage facilities, communication equipment, radar domes and is considered a fully operational facility.
With its transformation as a naval base, Subi Reef was placed “off limits” to the Philippines, he added.
“Nung nag-reclaim sila at ginawang naval base naging off limits ‘yan sa atin (when they started reclamation and turned (Subi Reef) into a naval base, it was placed off-limits to us),” he added. (PNA)
