The Philippine President has placed all AFP assets in the West Philippine Sea on Combat Alert Level 2 following a three-hour standoff in which Chinese coast guard vessels used water cannons on a Philippine supply boat near Ayungin Shoal.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. placed all Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) assets in the West Philippine Sea on Combat Alert Level 2 Monday after Chinese coast guard vessels used high-pressure water cannons on a Philippine Navy-contracted resupply boat attempting to deliver food and relief personnel to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal, injuring three sailors.
The escalation marks the most serious incident in the contested sea since the BRP Sierra Madre standoff of 2024 and comes at a diplomatically sensitive moment — just six days before the Philippine-American Balikatan joint military exercises are scheduled to begin.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said the motor vessel Kalayaan III had just entered Ayungin Shoal’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters when four Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) ships encircled it. When the Philippine vessel refused to turn back, the CCG ships deployed water cannons at close range for approximately 11 minutes, damaging the vessel’s radio antenna and injuring three crew members — two with lacerations, one with a minor concussion.
Video footage recorded by a PCG observer vessel and shared on social media showed the attack clearly.
“The Philippines will not be intimidated, bullied, or driven from waters that are ours by right, by law, and by a permanent arbitral award,” President Marcos said in a nationally televised address Monday evening. “I have ordered the AFP and the PCG to ensure our sovereign rights are asserted — lawfully, firmly, without backing down.”
The President also summoned China’s Ambassador to Malacañang for a formal protest, marking the 34th such diplomatic protest filed since January 2025.
The Pentagon issued a statement Monday reaffirming that the US-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty “covers Philippine armed forces, public vessels, and aircraft in the Pacific, including in the South China Sea.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with his Philippine counterpart and pledged “full coordination” ahead of Balikatan.
The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee chair, Senator Imee Marcos, filed Senate Resolution 214 calling for a joint session of Congress to declare the WPS a sovereign territory under “heightened protective status” — a largely symbolic but politically potent move.
Opposition senators demanded the government release the full incident report and called for the revival of a stalled bill that would criminalize cooperation with foreign forces in the disputed waters.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that the CCG had “taken lawful and necessary control measures against vessels illegally entering China’s territorial waters.” Beijing has never recognized the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling that invalidated its sweeping South China Sea claims.
The Point News will continue coverage of AFP-CCG interactions in the West Philippine Sea.
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Danilo Abad
Reporter
Danilo Abad covers national security and defense for The Point News.
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