MANILA – Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to require all foreign vessels to seek clearance from the government before passing through the country’s waters.
Lorenzana said that Duterte’s recent order was a “welcome development” amid reports of several Chinese vessels passing by the country’s territorial waters without asking permission.
“That is a very good development because now we have some authority to enforce our laws within our territorial waters,” Lorenzana said in a statement late Tuesday.
Duterte, in his order that was made public by Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo, said that foreign vessels must seek clearance before passing to avoid misunderstanding.
“It’s either Manila gets a compliance in a friendly manner or we enforce it in an unfriendly manner,” Panelo said. “All foreign vessels passing our territorial waters must notify and get clearance from the proper government authority well in advance of the actual passage.”
Lorenzana, however, said the Philippine military have several “unfriendly” options towards foreign vessels who will now follow Duterte’s order.
“Cutting their bows (on their ships), escorting them. I’m going to defer to the Navy what unfriendly method we can do,” he said.
Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, any foreign vessel may be allowed to cross a coastal state’s territorial waters without notifying the state if they are conducting innocent passage, or movement in a straight path heading back out to sea./PN
