MANILA, Philippines – A peaceful resolution steered by a firm hand. This is what President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assured Filipinos on Thursday, March 28, in light of China’s latest intimidation in the West Philippine Sea.

The President said he has already given directives to the country’s national security and defense officials and has been in constant communication with allies in the international community for the next steps to be taken.

The result of the past days’ consultations, said Marcos, is a response and countermeasure package that is “proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable in the face of the open, unabating, and illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks by agents of the China Coast Guard (CCG) and the Chinese Maritime Militia.”

“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience,” Marcos added. “Filipinos do not yield.”

On Saturday, March 23, the CCG used water cannons to attack Unaizah May 4, a wooden Philippine resupply boat on the way to a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal. (READ: Manila asks Beijing: Are you sincere in promoting South China Sea peace?)

The attack injured at least three Navy personnel. Prior to this, a March 5 attack had already shattered Unaizah May 4’s wind shield.

Ayungin Shoal or Second Thomas Shoal is located over 100 nautical miles from the coast of Palawan. It is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as affirmed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and by the 2016 arbitral ruling.

– Rappler.com