Aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre as strategically located in Ayungin Shoal, in a Philippine government report obtained by News5.
The Department of Foreign Affairs protested the act of Chinese government vessels that harassed Saturday a civilian resupply ship enroute to the BRP Sierra Madre, the old Philippine Navy ship serving as a Marine outpost at Ayungin Shoal, initially preventing it from carrying out its mission.
Over an hour later, however, the Armed Forces of the Philippines team, on board the civilian fishing vessel somehow managed “to re-supply, re-provision and rotate troops on board BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) at Ayungin Shoal,” said a text message from Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, quoting Col. Demy Zagala.
The incident happened a day before the Philippines is set to submit its “Memorial” or summary of arguments before a UN Arbitral Tribunal in the Hague, formalizing its complaint against what it called China’s “excessive claims” in the South China Sea, defying the latest warnings from Beijing.
Chinese vessels routinely harass Philippine ships suspected of re-supplying the BRP Sierra Madre, which Beijing wants towed out of the area. Manila, which placed the rusting warship in the Ayungin area years ago, has ignored the demand, saying it is well within Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea.
DFA to Beijing: stop threatening our security
The Department of Foreign Affairs condemned the harassment by Chinese vessels of the Filipino boat trying to transport some supplies in the Ayungin shoal.
"We condemn the harassment by the Chinese coast guard of our civilian vessels which are on their way to Ayungin Shoal to resupply provisions to our personnel stationed there," newly appointed DFA spokesman Charles Jose said in a statement.
He demanded that China "cease" from "taking actions that are a threat to our security".
China has been virtually claiming 90 percent of the West Philippine Sea, citing the nine-dash-line of ancient Chinese maps.
The Philippines, which is filing its Memorial or summary of arguments before an arbitral tribunal in The Hague on Sunday (March 30), has insisted that China should not encroach on its 200-km nautical exclusive economic zone (EEZ) provided by the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos).
Jose reminded China that Ayungin Shoal is part of thr Philippines' continental shelf and "therefore [Manila] has sovereign rights and jurisdiction over it".
Standoff between Chinese ships, 1 PH fishing boat
A journalist from Agence France-Presse, riding on a Philippine military plane flying above the area, saw the dramatic standoff between the Philippine soldiers aboard the civilian fishing vessel and Chinese coastguard ships.
Four Chinese vessels had encircled Second Thomas Shoal [Ayungin Shoal] as the Philippine vessel approached, according to the AFP reporter.
Two of the vessels, with "Chinese coastguard" written on the side of the boats, then chased the Philippine boat and tried to block it from reaching the shoal.
The vessels appeared to get within a few hundred meters of each other.
The Philippine ship finally slipped past the Chinese blockade to reach Second Thomas Shoal, where a handful of Filipino marines are stationed on a Navy vessel that has been grounded there since 1999 to assert their nation's sovereignty.
The Philippine military said the ship, a fishing vessel with soldiers on board, had completed its mission to deliver fresh supplies to the navy ship and rotate the troops.
"They were able to pass through the Chinese coastguard vessel and the mission is a success," Cherryl Tindog, a spokeswoman for the military's western command, told AFP.
"We have successfully re-supplied and rotated the troops."
The Philippines grounded the old Navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999, four years after China built structures on nearby, Filipino-claimed Mischief Reef.
Filipino troops have kept a presence on the ship ever since.
However, until this month, China had never sought to block the Philippines from re-supplying or rotating its soldiers there.
China successfully turned away a Philippine re-supply boat on March 9. Saturday's mission was the next attempt.
Although the military does not release figures on the number of soldiers stationed at Second Thomas Shoal, there are believed to be fewer than 10.
PH govt report: more aggressive Chinese presence
An exclusive report by News5’s DJ Sta. Ana, posted in Interaksyon.com last Jan. 17, 2014, had cited a confidential Philippine government report that a more assertive and aggressive Chinese military presence has been monitored near the Philippine garrison on Ayungin Shoal, located in the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
The report, obtained by TV5, indicates the "assertive and aggressive" stance of China could be part a renewed and possibly a more determined effort to remove Philippine military presence on Ayungin Shoal and from the whole Spratly Islands group. A dilapidated Philippine Navy Ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, was grounded on the shoal in 1999 and now serves as the barracks and command facility of Philippine Marines deployed there.
China had accused the Philippines of intentionally grounding the BRP Sierra Madre as part of what it claimed was an occupation strategy. Since then, China has made repeated demands that the ship and soldiers be removed. In 2013, Beijing offered to remove the BRP Sierra Madre at no cost to the Philippines.
Ayungin Shoal, internationally known as Second Thomas Shoal, is located 108 nautical miles from Palawan and is only 13 nautical miles southeast of Mischief Reef, where China has built a formidable garrison.
The confidential report states that China has been consistent with its demand that Manila remove the BRP Sierra Madre. It points out that in 2013, Beijing began stepping up the pressure.
On April 19, 2013, China sent a strongly worded communication demanding that the Philippine government remove the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal “but this time, they are also insinuating the removal and/or dismantling of all Philippine structures in the entire West Philippine Sea – citing the area as Chinese territory.”
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/83734/chinese-vessels-harass-but-fail-to-stop-resupply-mission-for-ph-navy-ship-at-ayungin-shoal
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