Philippine Coast Guard Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐚, 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 of the two Navy personnel who were injured during an incident in Ayungin Shoal last July 20, 2026.
According to RADM Tarriela, the said 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬’ 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞, in accordance with UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
“𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐂𝐆 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲,” he said.
He also said that the PCG broadcasted radio messages to vessels in the area every 30 minutes, identifying the mission as a humanitarian medical evacuation and telling vessels not to obstruct the life-saving operation, and denied China’s claim that it permitted the evacuation.
