Brawner disputes China’s claim of ‘combat patrol’ in West Philippine Sea

Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo S. Brawner Jr. | PHOTO: Philippine Army official facebook page

MANILA, Philippines — The joint maritime activity of the Philippines and three of its key allies in the West Philippine Sea was not met with a “combat patrol” from China.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Monday said the activity conducted with the United States, Australia, and Japan went unimpeded.

“Narinig natin na yung China daw ay magsasagawa rin ng kanilang combat patrols, pero sa nakita nating pag monitor doon sa area wala naman pong ganoong nangyari,” Brawner said in an interview in Camp Aguinaldo.

(We heard that China will also conduct combat patrols, but from what we saw in the area’s monitoring, nothing like that happened.)

The Department of National Defense said the presence of two People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warships with bow numbers 792 and 162 was monitored during the drills.

“While we were conducting our own exercises in the West Philippine Sea we only monitored the presence of two PLA Navy ships at wala namang ginawang mga combat patrol or mga exercises (and there are no combat patrols or exercises),” Brawner said.

READ: DND: 2 Chinese ships tailed Sunday’s multilateral patrol in West PH Sea

China said it would conduct military “combat patrols” in the South China Sea on Sunday, the same day as joint drills by four countries, according to Agence France-Presse.

“All military activities that mess up the situation in the South China Sea and create hotspots are under control,” the Chinese army further said in a statement.

Beijing asserts sovereignty in the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by a July 2016 international tribunal ruling that stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013.