‘GAME OF PRESENCE’ Then Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado holds a briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on the growing Chinese fortifications on Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, in this photo taken on Nov. 10, 1998. —EDWIN BACASMAS
Former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado on Wednesday said he was not aware of any Philippine commitment made to China to have the BRP Sierra Madre removed from Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
Mercado, who served in the Cabinet of the short-lived administration of then President Joseph Estrada, joined current officials in belying Beijing’s claims that Manila made such a pledge more than two decades ago.
“I was not a party to any so-called arrangement to remove the BRP Sierra Madre. In fact, we were the ones who beached it… We did not beach a landing ship tank just to give it up. What we wanted was to make it a semi-permanent base,” Mercado told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
MDT trigger
Mercado, who is also a former senator, said the Sierra Madre was deliberately grounded “with the blessing of the President to convert this landing ship tank to a military outpost” and assert the country’s presence at Ayungin after China took over Panganiban (Mischief) Reef in 1995.
“We had to match what they did in Mischief Reef. Ayungin is close to Mischief Reef and we had to put a presence there so they won’t control the entire area,” he recalled.
“The ship is not decommissioned; it’s an active ship and we knew that any attack or any effort to remove them will trigger the provisions of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) of 1951 between the United States and the Philippines,” he said.
Beijing has since transformed Panganiban Reef—also located within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and 37 kilometers northwest of Ayungin—into one of its largest military outposts in the Spratly Islands, building a 3-km airstrip, missile shelters, hangars and radar domes.
The Estrada administration planned to run more ships aground in “strategic places” but Edsa Dos happened, Mercado said, referring to the People Power uprising that ousted Estrada from Malacañang in January 2001 following a massive corruption scandal and the police and military’s withdrawal of support from his presidency.
“After Edsa 2 I was no longer secretary so I am not privy to any arrangements if there were any. I was not asked as regards to the plans and strategy that we have adopted in beaching landing ship tanks,” he said.
Mercado expressed dismay over the current condition of the grounded ship.
“The problem with us is we lack continuity. We don’t have a long-term strategy and it changes every administration. During the time of President Duterte, we gave up practically everything, including our victory in the international arbitral court,” he said.
Mercado said the Philippines should continue repairing the Sierra Madre or ground more ships for the same purpose.
“This is a game of presence, the requirement there is presence. If you are not there and you don’t watch your base, you will be denied access. If you can’t access your own area, you have abdicated and you lose sovereignty,” he stressed.