China military plane causes stir

AGGRESSORS OUT Chinese occupation of Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea had generate protests in Makati City in February. —INQUIRER PHOTO

DAVAO CITY — Authorities quickly dismissed concerns over the landing of a Chinese military plane at Davao International Airport here on Friday, saying it was no cause for alarm that should add to worries over what government critics had said was creeping Chinese invasion taking place in Philippine seas.

“It only refueled,” said Lt. Col. Jose Ritchie Pabilonia, commander of the Philippine Air Force’s (PAF) Tactical Operations Group in Southern Mindanao.

Pabilonia said the PAF had allowed the plane to land because “it had a diplomatic clearance.”

In a statement, Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go said the request for landing and refueling of the Ilyushin II 76 had been properly coordinated and cleared by the Department of National Defense, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

Conditions met

“The landing was requested for the specific purpose of refueling and was granted and given with specific conditions for compliance by the requesting party,” said Go, President Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted aide, in a statement on Sunday.

He said there was nothing wrong in the landing and refueling and that Philippine aircraft also make technical stops when needed in foreign countries.

“The same courtesy is extended to Philippine government aircraft when technical stops need to be undertaken,” Go said.

Go said the II 76 only did refueling and nothing else.

No passenger movement

In Malacañang, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the aircraft tapped a local handler, Transnational Aviation Support Service, for the issuance of permits to use the Davao airport.

“No movement of passengers was made,” Roque said.

Pabilonia said in a phone interview that PAF men “assisted it for refueling.”

Asked why the II 76, operated by the People’s Liberation Army, chose Davao City for refueling, Pabilonia said he did not know.
He said he also did not know where the plane was from.

“Nothing to be alarmed of. It is well-coordinated,” he said of the landing.

Photos of the plane were first uploaded on social media by a group calling itself Philippine Plane Spotters Group.

Social media protest

Netizens raised a howl or protest over the landing of the Chinese military aircraft, saying it was testament to President Duterte’s sellout of the country to the Chinese.

Duterte critic Jose Antonio Custodio said the landing took place amid “the travails of Filipino fishermen” at Scarborough Shoal, a Philippine territory that China claimed as its own and started to guard with coast guard vessels.

“Maybe we already have a VFA with the Chinese that I am not aware of,” Custodio wrote on Facebook, referring to Visiting Forces Agreement, a military deal between the Philippines and United States.

“Anyway, this administration really loves rewarding China for bad behavior,” Custodio added.

Tough aircraft

The II 76 was originally designed in 1967 to lift heavy machinery and was capable of short landings, even on ice.

Russia later tried to re-purpose it into a commercial plane with a capacity of 60 passengers but the plan did not materialize.

It continued to serve its original purpose — transport heavy machinery and supplies in remote areas of Russia and other countries that have been using it, like China.

The II 76 has a capability to refuel smaller planes on air. —Allan Nawal