Manila: A ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official on Tuesday stated that "appropriate contingency measures" are in place should Chinese maritime forces deliberately ground their ships in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). "In the PN and in the Armed Forces (of the Philippines), we do not deal (with) speculation. Nevertheless, we have appropriate contingencies in place for any eventuality," PN spokesperson for the WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing.

According to Philippines News Agency, Trinidad refrained from disclosing specific details of these measures due to security reasons. He was referring to the incident involving the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) vessel with bow number 16838, which ran aground on Pag-asa Island's Reef 1 last June 7 due to adverse weather conditions. The CMM ship managed to pull itself out a few hours later.

Trinidad also emphasized that when the Chinese grounding was reported, coordination was immediately established with the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). "The PCG was able to dispatch a rubber boat to be able to check on the safety of life and the equipment aboard the ship. There was no report on that. There was no report initially on the environmental damage. hindi naman sya ganung katagal nakasadsad dun (it was not grounded for very long), they were able to extricate after a few hours," he added.