AFP honors Navy personnel injured in Ayungin resupply missions

A China Coast Guard ship (left photo) trains its water cannon on the Philippine military-
chartered civilian boat Unaizah May 4 in an attempt to block the latter’s supply mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea earlier this month. The Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Sindangan was damaged after a collision (right) with a CCG ship due to the latter’s “dangerous blocking maneuvers,” the PCG said. PHOTOS FROM PCG

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday conferred awards to more than a dozen Navy personnel, including the injured ones, deployed for the resupply missions for military personnel in the BRP Sierra Madre in the West Philippine Sea.

AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. led the awarding ceremony here in the Western Command headquarters for the 16 Navy troops, including the seven injured ones.

The personnel received a Military Merit Medal, while the injured were also conferred a Wounded Personnel Medal.

The awarded troops are expected to be redeployed in the following missions.

The Unaizah Mae 4, the biggest of the government’s four resupply boats, had been used twice for the resupply mission this month.

It was used during the resupply mission on March 5 and March 23, when it was met with water cannon assault from China, causing damage to the vessel.

LOOK: AFP chief Romeo Brawner Jr. welcomed by Wescom chief Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos on his visit to Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

Brawner is set to visit three injured Navy personnel aboard Unaizah Mae 4 which was attacked by China Coast Guard personnel @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/tIPGwtugWN

— John Eric Mendoza (@JEMendozaINQ) March 26, 2024

China’s action is based on its assertion of ownership in the entire South China Sea, including 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.

“It is our duty to continue bringing supplies to sustain them in their operations and to make sure that their morale, their welfare is taken care of,” Brawner said in a press conference here after the awarding ceremony.

AFP’s Western Command chief Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, and Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan also graced in the awarding ceremony.

“We are undeterred, we will not be deterred, that’s what the troops have shown us,” Carlos said.