‘It is reassuring that the incident has prompted the United States to renew its vow that it will support the Philippines in case of a serious, outright confrontation with China.’
DESPITE hundreds of diplomatic protests filed by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) from the administration of President PNoy Aquino and up to now, harassment incidents such as the Ayungin Shoal attack last week still stick out like a sore thumb in the area of Philippines-China relations.
Last Nov. 16, two Philippine supply ships were reportedly blocked and water cannoned by Chinese in Ayungin shoal although the vessels were well within the country’s exclusive economic zones. No one was hurt in the attack but the boats had to abort their supply mission.
The provocations prompted Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to protest and call the attention of his counterpart, Ambassador Huang Xilian saying “the acts of Chinese Coast Guard are illegal. China has no law enforcement right in and around these areas.
They must take heed and back off.”
The Armed Forces’ Western Command reported that the PH boats were on their way to deliver food supplies to Filipino soldiers in Ayungin shoal, also known as Second Thomas Shoal, when blocked and hit by water cannons. The troops are stationed in BRP Sierra Madre, a transport ship grounded on purpose in 1999, to serve as an outpost of the Philippine Marines.
It is a fact that Ayungin Shoal is part of the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea, which is an integral part of Philippine territory, as well as the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, over which the Philippines has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction. These truths have been emphasized by the Department of Foreign Affairs to Chinese authorities. This time, the reiteration made by Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr. was conveyed with “outrage, condemnation and protest of the incident in the strongest terms.”
Locsin is good at weaving words whether in a diplomatic or combative manner, and is correct when he affirmed two things about the Ayungin shoal incident: that a Philippine public vessel is covered by the Philippines-United States Mutual Defense Treaty and that “we do not ask permission to do what we need to do in our territory.”
After the harassment and the filing of diplomatic protests, the right thing to do for the government is to go back there with the supplies and insist on feeding our Marines who are doing a precarious job of defending the integrity of Philippine territory.
It is reassuring that the incident has prompted the United States to renew its vow that it will support the Philippines in case of a serious, outright confrontation with China.
