A Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official denies China's claim that it has expelled Philippine vessels following its harassment against Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea on Sunday morning.

"I don't think that they expelled the Philippine vessels, the mere fact that we never departed Pag-asa right after the incident and how can they claim that they expelled us, as I said the presence of the Coast Guard the Armed Forces of the Philippines remain to be in Pag-asa Island," PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore Jay Tarriela said in a press conference on Monday.

Tarriela said PCG vessels only left the area of Pag-asa Island around 1 pm of the same day as it is tasked to proceed to Escoda Shoal to support the fishing activities of the Filipino fishermen in the area.

According to a Chinese newspaper, China Coast Guard "expelled Philippine vessels that had illegally intruded into adjacent waters of Tiexian Jiao (Sandy Cay) of China's Nansha Qundao (Spratly Islands) in the South China Sea, with the Philippine side responsible for a collision between a CCG vessel and a Philippine government vessel.''

Tarriela said the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannon against two BFAR ships, BRP Datu Pagbuaya and BRP Datu Bankaw which were near the Pag-asa Island during the incident.

Aside from water cannon a Chinese Coast Guard Ship also rammed BRP Datu Pagbuaya which cause damage on its stern.

"All of those incident happened around 1.6 to 1.8 nautical miles off the coast of Pag-asa Island that means all of these incident happened within the territorial sea of Pag-asa (Island)," he said.

Tarriela said it is the first time that the Chinese Coast Guard vessels harassed Philippine ships very near the Pag-asa Island.

"Before, the aggression of the Chinese Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia is very near the Pagasa Cays but this time around, this is the closest that the CCG harassed and bullied BFAR vessel it only has a distance of 1.6 to 1.8 nautical miles, very close to Pagasa Island," he said.

"For the CCG this is the first time that we saw coming close at the distance of 1.6 nautical miles... they were focusing only in Pagasa (Sandy) Cays 1,2,3,4... but this time around, this is the first time that they are this close to Pag-asa Island and doing this kind of bullying activities against BFAR vessel", he added.

As of Monday morning, Tarriela said BRP Datu Pagbuaya, Sanday and Bankaw that left the area of Pag-asa Island around 1 pm of Sunday is presently providing assistance to the Filipinos fishermen in the vicinity of Escoda Shoal.

"As we speak right now they are in Escoda Shoal supporting a large number of Filipino fishermen who are there and engage in fishing as a matter of fact they are distributing fuel subsidy and other supplies to sustain the fishing expedition of our fishermen to ensure their safety and security because the PCG vessel is also there, BRP Melchora Aquino supporting the fishermen," he noted. Robina Asido/DMS