Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) warships would prefer to utilize their own water cannons to save lives and avoid harming anyone at sea, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar said on Tuesday.
In a media interview, Aguilar said the PCG vessels also carry water cannons but unlike the China Coast Guard (CCG), PCG uses them to rescue lives.
He was responding to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement that the CCG acted lawfully on August 5 when it deployed water cannon to prevent a Philippine vessel from resupplying a military outpost in Ayungin Shoal.
According to the statement, the CCG's actions to derail a rotation and replenishment (RORE) operation for personnel on the grounded BRP Sierra Madre were "professional, restrained, and beyond reproach".
Aguilar stressed that the video footage is indisputable evidence of the CCG unconstitutional and harsh actions against our own citizens.
Actions that jeopardize people's lives, he says, can never be portrayed as professional, restrained, or above reproach.
During a joint press conference with the DFA and the AFP on Monday, PCG spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela confirmed that its warships were equipped with water cannons.
