THE Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) yesterday said China may have been tipped by an informant about the resupply mission that was later harassed by Chinese vessels near the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
PCG spokesman for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela made the remarks in radio interviews as he noted that six Chinese Coast Guard vessels involved in the August 5 harassment incident were already at the vicinity of the shoal a day before the mission.
Asked how the Chinese were able to learn about the resupply mission, Tarriela told one of the radio interviews: “That is something that we are yet to analyze. We still don’t know the source of information of the Chinese Coast Guard for them to prepare a day before the resupply mission.
“They might have intelligence (personnel) on the ground, they might really have an informant, that’s why they are aware of the movement of our resupply mission,” Tarriela added.
On the possibility the informant is a Filipino, Tarriela said: “We still don’t know. There are many Chinese nationals in the Philippines.”
In another another radio interview, Tarriela: “Maybe they can monitor us, I don’t know, via satellite, through AIS (automatic identification system). There are a lot of possibilities for the Chinese government to monitor our movement for resupply.”
Two military-chartered indigenous boats left mainland Palawan, carrying food, water, and other supplies needed by Filipino troops on board the BRP Sierra Madre which is grounded at Scarborough Shoal.
They were later met at the unoccupied Sabina Shoal on August 4 by two Philippine Coast Guard vessels tasked to escort the resupply mission.
The following day, the PCG vessels and the supply boats were subjected to repeated dangerous maneuvers and water cannoning near Ayungin Shoal by six Chinese Coast Guard vessels and two Chinese maritime militia vessels.
As a result, only one of the supply boats managed to reach the shoal. Last week, the military said they are sending another resupply mission to the shoal in two weeks, noting the supplies that reached the troops were not enough.
“A day before the resupply mission, that’s the time they went to Ayungin…. (They went there) to block the resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard,” said Tarriela of the Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
“They were really prepared, they went there a day before the resupply missioned happened, “ said Tarriela, adding the six Chinese Coast Guard vessels only left Ayungin Shoal when the PCG vessels pulled out after the harassment.
“They (Chinese Coast Guard vessels) went back to their stations, some went back to Mischief, Subi, and Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough) while others resumed patrols in different places in the West Philippine Sea,” said Tarriela.
What is definite, Tarriela said, was that there was really an intent on the part of the Chinese Coast Guard vessel to block the resupply mission.
FISHERMEN
Tarriela said the PCG supports the military’s plan to tap fishermen as militia to better monitor the situation in the WPS and defend the country’s territory.
“The Philippine Coast Guard remains supportive of the objectives and programs of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. If the Armed Force of the Philippines sees it fit to have a maritime militia, the Philippines is willing to support,” said Tarriela.
Asked if it was right to arm the fishermen, Tarriela just said: “Well for the Philippine Coast Guard, as I said, we are always supporting the mission objectives and activities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
On Thursday, AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr said the military was planning to employ reservists or militias in the West Philippine Sea.
Brawner said reservist units have been already established. He said the military is just waiting for the platforms that these reservists will be using before the plan can be fully implemented.
‘MEET US HALFWAY’
Deputy Chief of Mission of the Chinese Embassy in Manila China Zhou Zhiyong, in a breakfast forum in Quezon City on Monday, reiterated China’s call for the Philippines to “meet us halfway” through diplomatic dialogue to address the maritime dispute in the South China Sea.
“China has repeatedly expressed its willingness to resolve differences with the Philippines through bilateral dialogues. We hope that the Philippine side will abide by the existing consensus and cherish the hard-won situation in our bilateral situations. Meet the Chinese side halfway and find an effective way of managing the situation on the sea through diplomatic means, through diplomatic consultations,” Zhou said.
“China and the Philippines are neighbors that cannot move away from one another, thus disputes between both countries should be managed through dialogues and consultations,” he added.
According to the official, Beijing and Manila met in 2021 to discuss ways how to manage the dispute over Ayungin Shoal where they reached a consensus for the conduct of resupply missions to Filipino troops manning a detachment at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.
The BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era landing ship tank, has been grounded at Ayungin Shoal since 1999. The ship, which remains in active service as of this time with the Philippine Navy, has become a symbol of Manila’s sovereignty in the area amid continued Chinese aggressive acts.
Ayungin Shoal is located 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan and constitutes part of the country’s 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone and continental shelf as provided for under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
But, Zhou complained, starting this year, Manila refused to acknowledge and implement what had been agreed in 2021 and the latter started to take “unilateral actions.”
He also said Beijing has sent a draft proposal to Manila to address the matter, but the latter has yet to respond.
“Regrettably, in defiance of the repeated situation and warning from the Chinese side, the Philippine side insisted on transporting construction materials to the grounded vessel for overhaul and reinforcement with the intent of permanently occupying Ren’ai Reef. The above is the cause of this incident,” he added, referring to the Chinese name for Ayungin Shoal.
Zhou said his government has repeatedly made it clear to Manila that they are “firmly against the transportation of construction materials to the grounded warship.”
He also reiterated Beijing’s position that Manila had agreed 24 years ago to tow and remove the BRP Sierra Madre.
“The Philippine side also made explicit commitments to do so. The representations were put on record and well documented. It’s been 24 years and the Philippines side has yet to honor its commitment. The Chinese side, however, has always exerted the utmost restraint, with a view to maintaining the relations with the Philippines and safeguarding regional peace and stability,” Zhuo added.
President Marcos Jr. has said that Manila never promised Beijing to remove BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal and that if any was made, he is rescinding such an agreement.
The DFA has yet to issue a statement on Zhou’s claims as of press time.
Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said the “debates” on whether his father, former President Estrada, made a promise to the Chinese government that BRP Sierra Madre will be removed from Ayungin Shoal should already stop since Marcos has practically “rescinded” the supposed agreement “if there was such an agreement.”
Estrada made the remark after a newspaper columnist wrote that the former president did promise in 1999 to remove the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.
Estrada said it is “illogical’ for his father to make a promise to the Chinese government since it was he who ordered the BRP Sierra Madre to be placed in Ayungin Shoal.
He said that since his father could no longer recalls details of the BRP Sierra Madre due to old age, he talked with former Defense Secretary Orly Mercado to clarify the issue.
“Sabi ni Senator Orly, nagtatayo na ng konkreto so pinadala na ang barko natin doon (Sen. Orly [Mercado] said that there were concrete structures being built there [in Ayungin Shoal] so they sent our ship there),” Estrada said.
In a statement, Estrada said Mercado confirmed that there was “no agreement or promise” whatsoever made to China that the BRP Sierra Madre will be removed.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito agreed with his half-brother that the columnist’s claim “seems inconsistent” since it was their father who ordered the grounding of the navy ship so “it’s impossible he will commit to remove the same.”
STOP DIALOGUES
Administration lawmakers at the House of Representatives urged Marcos to reject Beijing’s call for another dialogue, saying it is just a ploy to divert international attention from the water cannon attack incident.
“We can talk to China only after they withdraw their naval and coast guard vessels and forces from our 200 Mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone),” said Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.
Rodriguez said China has long been violating the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the Philippines’ July 12, 2016 International Arbitral Award “by its continuous unlawful intrusions and illegal acts in our WPS.”
Camarines Sur Luis Raymund Villafuerte scoffed at Beijing’s latest offer of a bilateral dialogue to settle the maritime row, saying it is a mere “obfuscatory tactic to blot out its water cannon attack on Philippine vessels.”
Likewise, Villafuerte proposed that the next rotation and reprovision (RORE) mission for Filipino soldiers stationed at the military outpost in Ayungin Shoal be undertaken during the planned joint patrols with the United States (US) and other allies “who all want to preserve freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).”
“The joint sails with the US and possibly with other allies similarly seeking to uphold freedom of navigation could be timed with the next RORE mission for our Marines troops deployed to BRP Sierra Madre,” he said.
“Fresh diplomatic talks that Beijing wants to initiate following its CCG (Chinese Coast Guards)’s latest incursive action against our (Philippine) Coast Guard on a resupply mission will certainly go nowhere, as the Chinese are likely to make capital of such futile negotiations, in case we fall for it, to advance before the world their latest spurious claim that we have long committed to removing the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal,” Villafuerte added.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday said Manila should work with Beijing “to seek an effective way to defuse tensions in the South China Sea,” according to Xinhua news agency.
Villafuerte said that on the short term, the Philippine government would do better to focus on accelerating its external defense option.
The lawmaker expressed optimism that “our foreign affairs and military officials know that their Chinese counterparts have long been speaking with forked tongues when it comes to WPS concerns and will certainly not fall for this trap of getting back at the negotiating table and putting on pause our government’s heightened efforts to protect our territorial waters.”
“And besides, further negotiations are likely to only trigger escalated Chinese military and paramilitary attacks on our soldiers and fisherfolk, judging from the outcomes of the three such diplomatic talks between Manila and Beijing this year alone – including a meeting between President Marcos and President Xi Jinping in China – were followed by even more hostile acts of incursions into our seas,” he said. — With Ashzel Hachero, Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
