(Photo : Ezra Acayan/Getty Images)
Chinese Coast Guard personnel point cameras at Philippine ships on a resupply mission to troops stationed at Second Thomas Shoal on March 5, 2024, in the South China Sea.
A series of recent confrontations with China has led Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to order sweeping changes to the government panel responsible for his country's maritime security.
In an executive order made public Sunday, Marcos reorganized and expanded the Philippines' National Watch Council into a new National Maritime Council, according to Politico.
The order, signed Monday, reportedly adds the national security adviser, solicitor general, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency chief and the South China Sea task force as members of the new council.
It also appears to expand the role of the military by saying the Armed Force of the Philippines, and not just its navy, will be among the agencies supporting the council, Reuters said.
Marcos' order doesn't explicitly name China but said that the Philippines faced "a range of serious challenges that threaten not only the country's territorial integrity, but also the peaceful existence of Filipinos."
"Strengthening the country's maritime security and domain awareness is imperative to comprehensively tackle the crosscutting issues that impact the nation's national security, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime jurisdiction over its extensive maritime zones," he said.
China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn't respond to a request for comment, Reuters said.
The release of Marcos' order came after he publicly vowed Thursday to take unspecified action against what he called "illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks" by China's coast guard.
The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of repeated, hostile activities in the South China Sea, where China claims to have historic rights and resources, despite a 2016 ruling against it by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
The most recent took place on March 23, when Chinese coast guard ships used water cannons against a Philippine supply ship headed for the Second Thomas Shoal, located about 145 miles off the western coast of the Philippine province of Palawan.
The reef has been occupied by a small contingent of Philippine sailors and marines since 1999, when the Sierra Madre, a World War II-era Philippine warship, was deliberately grounded there.
