‘Behavior change in WPS may be due to pressure’
THE Armed Forces yesterday said China was not that aggressive in harassing last Tuesday’s resupply mission to Filipino troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), adding the Chinese may have learned their lesson when they harassed a similar mission near the shoal on August 5.
“If you are to compare what happened on August 5 to what happened yesterday, they (Chinese) were not so aggressive. Probably they learned their lesson,” said AFP spokesman Col. Medel Aguilar during the “Laging Handa” public briefing.
On August 5, six Chinese Coast Guard vessels and two Chinese maritime militia vessels subjected to repeated dangerous maneuvering and water cannoning two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels and two indigenous boats near the Ayungin Shoal. The two wooden supply boats were chartered by the military to deliver supplies to troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre which was grounded at the shoal in 1999 to serve as a military outpost. The PCG vessels were merely escorting the supply boats.
Only one of the supply boats managed to reach the shoal due to the Chinese harassment, prompting authorities to embark on another rotation and reprovisioning (RoRe) last Tuesday.
The Philippine government condemned China’s action. A number of countries, including United States and Japan, also condemned China’s action while reiterating their support to the claim of the Philippines in the South China Sea.
In the resupply mission Tuesday, two PCG vessels and the same supply boats were harassed by four Chinese Coast Guard vessels through dangerous maneuvers but there was no incident of water cannoning this time.
Despite the harassment, the supply boats were still able to complete their mission to deliver supplies to the Filipino troops at the BRP Sierra Madre.
“They learned their lesson that violence has no place in this world, especially if that violence is founded on something that is not acceptable to international community and the violence (was done) to encroach or subvert or to, shall I say, suppress the rights of other countries,” said Aguilar.
Aguilar said the support given by the international community to the Philippines after the August 5 incident may have pressured China to become less aggressive last Tuesday.
‘HUGE PRESSURE’
In a radio interview, Aguilar said the widespread condemnation directed against China after the August 5 incident “had a huge effect on their behavior (last Tuesday).”
“There is huge pressure I think, so they made changes in their behavior. Instead of being too aggressive, they just took position to make a statement,” said Aguilar.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr, in an interview at Camp Aguinaldo, said one of the Chinese Coast Guard vessels activated its water cannons during last Tuesday’s harassment.
“Although they did, they did not point it directly at our resupply ships or our Coast Guard ships, the mere fact that they activated their water cannons and they were ready to use it is something else,” said Brawner.
Brawner surmised the Chinese were sending a message that they were determined to prevent the mission from succeeding.
“They did not really point it at our ships, but we can say that they were flexing their muscles. They want to show us ‘we are here and we are ready to use our water cannons against you,’” said Brawner.
WHAT HUMANITARIAN REASON?
Brawner said the military need not ask permission from China to bring supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre noting that it is a commissioned Navy ship.
“It is our right and our obligation to make sure that our soldiers have necessary provisions and supplies, even supplies for the repair of the ship. That’s our right. We have to make sure that our post, we consider it post, is habitable for our soldiers,” he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the resupply missions are legitimate activities that do not require the approval of any foreign nation.
“The Philippines’ exercise of its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction within our maritime zones is not subject to any other country’s approval. This is the norm,” DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza said in a statement.
Daza issued the statement after Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian on Tuesday sought to defend the latest actions of the Chinese Coast Guard to interfere in the country’s resupply mission. He said the Philippines attempted to bring construction materials to the area.
“What I want to emphasize is there has never been a problem with the delivery of humanitarian supplies because there is a special arrangement for such,” Xilian said.
“The problem arose when the Philippines transported large-scale building materials,” he added.
Xilian was referring to the resupply mission last Tuesday.
Brawner, Aguilar and PCG spokesman for West Philippine Commodore Jay Tarriela belied China’s claim that it allowed the supply boats to enter Ayungin Shoal for humanitarian reason.
“The mere presence of their ships blocking (Ayungin Shoal) and they activated their water cannons is already a signal that they were preventing our resupply mission. It’s not true they allowed our resupply mission to enter (the shoal) and reach BRP Sierra Madre,” said Brawner.
Brawner said Chinese Coast Guard vessels also shadowed the resupply mission while en route to Ayungin Shoal. “Upon arrival at the shoal, there were additional China Coast Guard vessels and fishing vessels, some of them are Chinese militia,” he said.
“Their statement that they allowed our boats to proceed (to the shoal) since they are not bringing construction materials is another — well we can say — propaganda on their part,” he said.
Aguilar said the Chinese even deployed a rigid-hull inflatable boat (RHIB) in a desperate attempt to prevent the supply boats from entering the shoal. He said the RHIB was stopped by Filipino troops from BRP Sierra Madre who were dispatched onboard a rubber boat.
“Our resupply boats managed to enter the shoal and successfully executed the RoRe mission,” said Aguilar.
GAME PLAN
Tarriela, during the public briefing, said the resupply mission was harassed by the Chinese about 2.5 nautical miles from the shoal.
“We experienced dangerous maneuvers from four China Coast Guard vessels and four Chinese maritime militia… Our game plan really is to outmaneuver the Coast Guard vessels in blocking us,” said Tarriela.
“I can confirm we did not experience water cannon (attack), they did not use their water cannons… What they did is they attempted to block, harass the supply boats and the Philippine Coast Guard vessels,” said Tarriela.
Tarriela said such resupply mission needs no approval from Chinese officials, noting that Ayungin Shoal is within the Philippines’ 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone and “we have sovereign rights over these waters.”
Tariella said it was not true the Chinese allowed the resupply mission to proceed on humanitarian grounds.
“As I said a while ago, our supply boats and our Philippine Coast Guard vessels were still deliberately blocked by China Coast Guard vessels and their Chinese maritime militia. It’s not true they allowed it,” said Tarriela.
“The resupply operation that we had yesterday (Tuesday) was not a walk in the park. We still experienced dangerous maneuvers, they still attempted to block our resupply operation,” he said.
Tarriela said publicizing China’s bullying last August 5 may have been the “main reason” the Chinese did not authorize the use of their water cannons last Tuesday.
“And then you can also notice that during the last resupply (mission), they deployed six big China Coast Guard vessels but this time there were only four China Coast Guard vessels and two of them were smaller than our (44-meter) ships,” he said.
“I think this has something to do with the optics. They want to show the show the world they are not really aggressive in preventing our resupply mission,” he added.
THE ‘PROMISE’
At the House, the militant Makabayan bloc filed House Resolution No. 1215 seeking an inquiry into China’s claim that the Philippine government promised to remove BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal.
Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) said a categorical denial from former president Rodrigo Duterte, himself, that he made such a promise to Beijing “is necessary because the rejection issued by former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea is not enough.”
“Even if former Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea has belatedly tried to deny that it was former President Rodrigo Duterte who promised China that the BRP Sierra Madre will be removed, his statement remains hollow because he does not have personal knowledge between the meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Duterte in 2016 when Duterte said that they had a verbal understanding at a bilateral meeting and that it is binding, but the details were not released,” she said.
Castro earlier said Duterte may have been the one who made the promised to Beijing because the camp of former President Joseph Estrada and former President and now Deputy Speaker Gloria Arroyo, herself, have denied doing so and it was illogical for the Aquino administration to do since it was the one that brought the issue to international arbitration.
The resolution pointed out that on May 6, 2021, Duterte called the country’s arbitral victory against China’s claims in the West Philippine Sea “a piece of paper that he can throw away in a trash bin.”
“Duterte said the ruling affirming the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone is just a piece of paper that led to nothing,” the resolution said.
While China has yet to show any proof that such an agreement happened, it said the issue “warrants a thorough investigation to ascertain if the claim is true or China is only making this up.”
“If there is indeed truthfulness to the claim, Congress, as representatives of the people, should identify the traitors in the Philippine government that compromised our sovereign and territorial integrity, and join the call to punish him/her/them according to law,” the resolution said.
BOYCOTT
National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) head and Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan rejected calls to cut business ties with China following calls to boycott Chinese businesses.
“I think we have to look at this issue on a broader scale. I don’t think that in the history of the world that boycott will work. That has been proven many times in the history of nations,” Balisacan said in a briefing after a meeting in Malacañang.
He said the country should instead continue to use the diplomatic channels to resolve any issues.
He also reminded everyone of the policy of President Marcos Jr. that the Philippines is an “enemy to none, we are a friend to all.”
“So, let’s keep it that way,” he said.
Balisacan also reminded everyone “the economy must, by all cost, be protected.”
“We don’t want to cut. All these economies, including China or even particularly China, are now part of the global value chain. Our economy is part of the global value chain. We are linked to China directly or indirectly. And that should not be the approach that we take in dealing with our neighbor,” he added.
China is one of the Philippines’ major trading partners, both as export buyers and supplier of imported products.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri floated the idea of boycotting all Chinese companies as a sign of protest following China’s bullying in the West Philippine Sea. — With Gerard Naval, Wendell Vigilia and Jocelyn Montemayor
