Brawner saw firsthand Chinese harassment of resupply vessels in WPS

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. and the AFP Western Command commander, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, share lunch with the marines on the BRP Sierra Madre. (Photo from the Armed Forces of the Philippines)

EL NIDO, Palawan, Philippines — Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief-of-staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. joined the resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal on Sunday and saw firsthand the harassment of China Coast Guard of Filipino vessels.

Brawner was aboard the Unaizah Mae 1 while the resupply boat was rammed by a CCG vessel.

He stayed on the wooden resupply boat overnight before reaching the BRP Sierra Madre.

Brawner visited the vessel accompanied by the AFP Western Command commander, Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos.

“I felt the hardship. [The boat] was small and there were big waves,” Brawner told reporters in Filipino in a phone interview on Monday.

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Brawner also witnessed the water cannon attack of a CCG vessel that “severe damage” to the engine of resupply boat ML Kalayaan, while the BRP Cabra suffered damage to its mast after being directly targeted by the water cannon.

“I got angry at China for what they did and I felt bad for our troops,” he said.

“Like those on the Unaizah Mae, imagine, every resupply mission faces that. We keep avoiding them, but they keep harassing us.”

A Christmas convoy led by MV Kapitan Felix Oca was supposed to sail to the general vicinity of Ayungin Shoal to bring gifts and supplies for the crew of BRP Sierra Madre and other troops stationed in other maritime features in the Kalayaan Island Group.

The convoy was escorted by the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Melchora Aquino, where some journalists from various companies, including INQUIRER.net, were embedded.

However, the captain of the MV Kapitan Felix Oca, where volunteers from the Atin Ito coalition, accompanied by another group of journalists, decided to return to El Nido in Palawan after being shadowed by a CCG vessel on Sunday afternoon.

Sources on the BRP Melchora Aquino said the captain of the MV Kapitan Felix Oca was also informed of the water cannon attack in the resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre.

The PCG said that it had recorded the highest number of Chinese vessels deployed — 46 in all, including six CCG ships — that impeded the regular rotation and resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal over the weekend.

“As the Wescom commander said,  this was the first time they saw this many [Chinese vessels]. So we suspect that they were preparing for the Christmas convoy.”