This photo taken on August 22, 2023 shows a Chinese coast guard ship (L) sailing past the grounded Philippine navy ship BRP Sierra Madre where marines are stationed to assert Manila’s territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. A team of AFP journalists on board the BRP Cabra, one of the two Philippine Coast Guard escort boats, watched as one of the Chinese ships came within several meters of the vessel. AFP was one of three media outlets given the rare opportunity to join the Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal, less than three weeks after Chinese coast guard ships water cannoned a similar replenishment operation. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
The Armed Forces of the Philippines and National Security Council (NSC) on Monday rejected the Chinese coast guard’s claim that the Philippines was allowed to air drop supplies for its troops on the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal through “temporary special arrangements.”
In a press briefing, AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Padilla said the military does not need “any permission from any country” in carrying out rotation and resupply (Rore) missions in the West Philippine Sea.
“The AFP regularly conducts the Rore mission. We keep on saying that we really are going to provide the morale and welfare needs of our troops to include those from LS-57,” she said, referring to the BRP Sierra Madre, a grounded Philippine Navy warship that serves as a military outpost.
Chinese claims
Chinese vessels, including those of its coast guard and maritime militia, have been disrupting Philippine ships conducting resupply missions to Ayungin.
“On Jan. 21, a small aircraft from the Philippines airdropped supplies to the illegally beached warship,” the China Coast Guard said in its official WeChat account.
“The Chinese coast guard has followed up and monitored the situation in real time, controlled and dealt with it in accordance with laws and regulations, and made temporary special arrangements for the Philippines to replenish necessary daily supplies,” it added.
It also accused Manila of disregarding the facts and misleading the international community, which it said was not conducive in easing tensions in the South China Sea.
The NSC also shot down the China Coast Guard’s claim about issuing “temporary permits” for the Philippines’ resupply missions for its troops.
Figment of imagination
“There was no ‘temporary special arrangement’ allowing us to conduct this resupply mission. Again, this is a figment of the imagination of the Chinese Coast Guard and there is no truth to this claim,” Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya, NSC assistant director general, said in a television interview.
“We do not need to get the permission of anyone, including the Chinese coast guard, whenever we bring in supply through whatever means, whether it is through ship or by air,” he added.
While declining to either confirm or deny that the AFP carried out its resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal through airdrop activities, Malaya said the Philippines has a duty to deliver supplies to its troops on the BRP Sierra Madre.
“We continue to support [the troops] and we have the right to do so and we don’t need to ask permission from any country,” he stressed.
Beijing has insisted that the warship’s presence in Ayungin is illegal and violates Chinese sovereignty.
A 2016 ruling by an arbitration tribunal in The Hague rejected these claims, but China refuses to acknowledge the decision.
Ayungin is a low-tide elevation about 194 kilometers off Palawan province. It is about 37 km northwest of Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, also within the country’s exclusive economic zone. However, the reef was seized in 1995 by China, which has since transformed it into a massive military outpost capable of launching missiles. INQ