On the bridge of her Philippine ship, Seawoman Second Class Stephane Villalon’s voice reverberated as she issued a radio challenge to a much larger Chinese coastguard vessel in a disputed area of the South China Sea.
The 152-centimetre-tall (five feet) radio operator is one of the Philippine coastguard’s 81 “Angels of the Sea”, graduates of an all-women training programme aimed at defusing encounters in the critical waterway.
“China coastguard vessel 5303, this is Philippine coastguard vessel BRP Bagacay MRRV-4410. You are advised that you are currently sailing within the Philippine exclusive economic zone,” she said during an encounter videotaped last month.
“You are directed to depart immediately and notify us of your intention.”
Villalon’s action during the incident was precisely what the coastguard envisioned when it launched the Angels programme four years ago.
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and its coastguard has clashed repeatedly with that of the Philippines, sparking fears of an armed conflict.
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