The President called a special Command Conference this morning of the national security and defense clusters in order to be briefed and to give his guidance on the latest violation by China of the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines.

The Philippine government views the latest aggression by China as a blatant violation of international law. China has no legal right or authority to conduct law enforcement operations in our territorial waters. We are taking this incident seriously at the highest level of government.

The use by China of brute force behind disingenuous facades necessitates this course of action.

We called for this press conference to give you a clear and factual narrative of what transpired. The Chinese government is deliberately obfuscating the truth.

The Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard are here to give you an undistorted narration of the illegal acts of the Chinese vessels.

On or about of date, 06:04 on Saturday, October 22, 2023, while conducting a legitimate rotation and resupply (RORE) mission within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, Chinese Coast Guard and maritime militia vessels, in blatant violation of international law, harassed and intentionally hit Unaizah May 2 and PCG Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra. This occurred within the 200-mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines which China has no jurisdiction, authority or right to conduct any operations.

This is a serious escalation of the illegal activities conducted by the Chinese government in the West Philippine Sea and in complete disregard of any norm or convention of international law.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian has been summoned today by the DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo to condemn the reckless and illegal act of the Chinese government. Likewise, Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz has been instructed to convey the same to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Philippine Coast Guard has been directed to proceed swiftly with its maritime investigation in accordance with international maritime safety regulations.

We also acknowledge the support of our allies and like-minded nations such as the United States, Japan, Australia, Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and European Union in condemning China’s aggression and expansionist actions.

We call on our people to stand behind the Government in executing our constitutional mandate to secure the national interest in the West Philippine Sea.

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