THE military yesterday said it conducted a troop rotation and resupply mission (RORE) at the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea as the country commemorated the 83rd Araw ng Kagitingan or Day of Valor.
“The RORE was carried out in close coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard and concluded without any untoward incident,” said AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad.
The latest RORE is the seventh consecutive mission since July last year that was not marked by any untoward incident.
In July last year, Filipino and Chinese diplomats convened the 9th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM), during which they reached a “provisional arrangement” on the conduct of RORE missions to de-escalate tension in the area.
Prior to the convening of the 9th BCM, the Chinese have harassed RORE missions to the shoal. The last incident of Chinese harassment was in June last year when a Filipino sailor lost a finger and Philippine Navy equipment were damaged.
Troops at Ayungin Shoal are staying at the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting Navy ship that was grounded at the feature in 1999 to serve as military outpost.
“As the nation marks the 83rd anniversary of the Day of Valor, the AFP honors the courage and dedication of our soldiers aboard BRP Sierra Madre who continue to stand guard in the West Philippine Sea to uphold our sovereignty, sovereign rights and national interest,” said Trinidad.
Meanwhile, a Chinese research vessel earlier monitored to be conducting marine scientific research off Batanes has left the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday.
However, another Chinese research vessel was monitored inside the country’s 200-nautical mile EEZ off Cagayan, said Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, in a television interview.
The research vessel Zhong Shan Da Xue entered the EEZ on Wednesday last week and later conducted unauthorized marine scientific research in the Batanes area.
The other Chinese research vessel, Dian Ke 1 Hao, was monitored off Cagayan on Tuesday.
“But we are not yet certain whether it is conducting more scientific research because unlike the other research vessel that we monitored in Batanes, it is currently navigating continuously and it is not forming a navigation plan, like you know, coming up with different patterns as if they’re doing something,” said Tarriela.
