Philippines warns foreign vessels not to pass without notice

The Philippines on Tuesday warned it would enforce inan "unfriendly manner" a diplomatic protocol that foreign vesselspassing through the country's territorial waters must give priornotice or gain clearance from the government.The warning came after a series of sightings by the Philippinemilitary of Chinese warships in the country's territorial waters.The vessels did not respond to inquiries from military officers andhad given no prior notice to the government of their passage. "To avoid misunderstanding in the future, the president is putting onnotice that beginning today, all foreign vessels passing ourterritorial waters must notify and get clearance from the propergovernment authority well in advance of actual passage," presidentialspokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement. "Either we get compliance in a friendly manner or we enforce it in anunfriendly manner," he added.There was no immediate comment from the Chinese embassy in Manila.At least five Chinese warships have been spotted passing through astrait in the southern Philippines in separate incidents since July,according to Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, a regionalmilitary commander.Sobejana said the Philippine military tried to contact the warshipswhen they were spotted in Sibutu Passage, but the Chinese did notrespond.China claims almost the entire South China Sea as its territory andhas built artificial islands with military-capable facilities in thearea. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have claims to thesea.