By Robina Asido

The China Coast Guard ''has elevated'' its aggression against Philippine vessels as the use of its water cannons is becoming'' fatal'', a Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea said on Wednesday.

In a press conference in Manila, Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea noted that it is the first time that the CCG directly fired the water cannon towards the PCG vessel with higher pressure.

"The Chinese Coast Guard now has elevated the tension and the level of water aggression as well towards the Philippine Coast Guard vessel," he said.

"This is the first time, that we can say, that the Coast Guard vessel has been subjected to a direct water cannon with that kind of pressure that even resulted in structural damage of the Philippine Coast Guard," he added.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in a Tuesday briefing that the Philippine Coast Guard vessel and official vessel entered waters of Huangyan Dao without Chinese permission, which seriously infringed on China’s sovereignty. China Coast Guard took necessary measures to expel them in accordance with the law.''

'' China urges the Philippines to stop making infringement and provocations at once and not to challenge China’s resolve to defend our sovereignty,'' he added.

Tarriela said compared to the previous water cannon incidents the CCG used higher pressure which he described as fatal.

"Well if we're going to look at how it (bent) the railing of the Philippine Coast Guard vessel because of the water cannon, obviously that would be very fatal," he said.

"200 pounds per square inch(psi)... it can still be increased, but 200 psi is already fatal," he added.

Aside from the damage at the railing and canopy of BRP Bagacay that was initially reported, Tarriela said the communication equipment of the BFAR vessel BRP Bankaw was also broken by the water cannon from CCG. Robina Asido/DMS