Says no ‘commitment’ from PH to remove ship at Ayungin
BY VICTOR REYES and ASHZEL HACHERO
DEFENSE Secretary Delfin Lorenzana yesterday rejected China’s demand for the Philippines to remove a rusting Navy ship that has been grounded since 1999 at the Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea in the South China.
He said the shoal is inside the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone based on the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) “which China ratified.”
Lorenzana said he is not aware of a Philippine commitment to remove the ship which had been intentionally grounded at the Ayungin Shoal to reinforce the Philippines’ claim to the area.
“I don’t know. I’ll have to ask the people during that time… As far as I know there is no such commitment. That ship has been there since 1999. If there was a commitment, it would have been removed a long time ago,” he said.
China, through Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, on Wednesday said the Philippines should “honor its commitment” by removing the BRP Sierra Madre. Zhao said the area is part of Chinese territory called Ren ái Jiao. This despite the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration favoring Manila and dismissing Beijing’s sweeping claim in the South China Sea.
“Ren’ai Jiao is part of China’s Nansha Qundao. China demands that the Philippine side honor its commitment and remove its illegally grounded vessel from Ren’ai Jiao. This position remains unchanged,” Zhao said in a press briefing in Beijing.
In 2014, Beijing also claimed that Manila agreed to pull out from Ayungin Shoal, which the Department of Foreign Affairs denied. The DFA then stressed the shoal is part of the Philippine continental shelf over which the nation has sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
Zhao, in the briefing, said the delivery of food and other supplies to Filipino troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre “is a provisional, special arrangement out of humanitarian considerations.”
”The China Coast Guard ship patrolled and performed its duty in the water area in accordance with law and monitored from start to end the Philippine side’s supply delivery activities,” he added.
The shoal is about 174 nautical miles from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan and about 600 nautical miles from China’s Hainan province.
The Chinese demand followed a November 16 incident when two Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked two Filipino supply boats delivering supplies to troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre. A third Chinese vessel fired water cannons at the supply boats, forcing them to abort their mission and head back to mainland Palawan.
On November 22, the supply boats sailed again and reached Ayungin Shoal the following day. They were harassed anew by Chinese ships, according to Lorenzana, despite a promise given to him by the Chinese ambassador that China would “not interfere.”
SOVEREIGN RIGHTS
Foreign affairs and security officials have condemned the November 16 incident, saying the Chinese should not be in the area because it is within the Philippines’ EEZ and the boats were merely delivering supplies.
Zhao has justified the harassment, saying the Filipino boats “trespassed” into Chinese territory and the Chinese Coast Guard vessels just performed “official duties in accordance with law and upheld China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime order.”
Lorenzana dismissed Zhao’s statement, saying the Chinese violated the Philippines’ sovereign rights because they were inside the Philippines’s EEZ.
He also said China should be abide by international obligations.
“Furthermore, the arbitral award ruled that the territorial claim of China has no historic nor legal basis,” Lorenzana.
Lorenzana was referring to the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s nine-dash line claim in the South China Sea and upheld the Philippines right to its EZZ.
“Ergo, we can do whatever we want there and it is they who are actually trespassing.
Meron tayong dalawang dokumento na nagpapatunay na meron tayong sovereign rights sa ating EEZ habang sila ay wala at yung claim nila walang basehan. (We have two documents that prove we have right to our EZZ while they have none and their claim has no basis),” said Lorenzana.
At a forum organized by Stratbase ADR Institute, Lorenzana said the West Philippine Sea territorial dispute is the country’s “main concern.”
“China remains aggressive in asserting its claims in the South China Sea, seriously challenging our interests in the area,” he said.
Lorenzana also noted President Duterte’s “strong statement against this bullying action.” He was referring to the President’s remarks during the ASEAN summit last Monday.
‘CALM’
Lorenzana said the supply boats left the shoal also on Tuesday after unloading cargo and personnel.
“They also brought out personnel going home on R&R (rest and recreation),” he added.
The Chinese Coast Guard personnel took videos and pictures of the boats unloading the supplies, acts that Lorenzana described as form of intimidation and harassment.
“As of now situation there is calm and normal,” Lorenzana said.
Senators said China has no right to demand the removal of the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal.
Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who on Wednesday said China is bullying the Philippines, said the Navy ship is inside the Philippine EEZ.
Sotto also called for a review of the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, which states one country can come to the aid of the other in case of an attack. He said China might just realize that the Philippines is not its only enemy.
Sen. Panfilo Lacson, Senate national defense and security committee chairman, said, “I don’t think there was an agreement and I could not imagine, much less the foreign affairs department, will enter into an agreement that we will remove the Sierra Madre. We have troops there, although it is located in the sea, with no land, but it is very clear that it is ours. If we measure the distance, it is ours),” Lacson said in a forum in mixed Filipino and English.
Lacson said moving the BRP Sierra Madre out of Ayungin Shoal is like giving up the country’s sovereign claim in that area as it will give China an “unhampered control” over the shoal.
Sotto said Senate Bill 2289, or an Act Declaring Maritime Zones under the Jurisdiction of the Republic of the Philippines, which he filed in June aims to define the country’s maritime zones, which will enforce the country’s claim to its 200-nautical mile EEZ.
Lacson said a municipal law which will declare the maritime zones of the country is needed to reinforce the country’s claims in the West Philippine Sea.
Lacson said he has drafted a Senate resolution which will condemn the recent harassment of China in Ayungin Shoal.
If elected president next year, Lacson said, he will have the dilapidated Sierra Madre refurbished so the troops can stay longer.
Lacson said that during his trip to Pag-asa Island last week, military officials reported to him that the vessel’s platform is badly damaged that personnel might fall from it.
He said military officials have ordered minor repairs on the ship’s platform by replacing worn-out metal plates.
Sen. Grace Poe said China’s insistence of pulling out the Sierra Madre is a show of “arrogance and aggression” that should not be taken sitting down.
Aside from filing diplomatic protests, she said, government should encourage neighboring countries to form an alliance against China.
Sen. Joel Villanueva said, “Trespassers have no right to issue an eviction order,” Villanueva said. — With Raymond Africa
