AFP won't comment on China bombers, but says 'we are doing our mandate'

From Rappler (May 21): AFP won't comment on China bombers, but says 'we are doing our mandate'

'We can assure our people that your armed forces will never renege in its constitutional obligation to help secure and defend the territorial integrity of our nation,' says the AFP

SILENCE. AFP Spokesperson Colonel Edgard Arevalo says they have conducted patrols for the China bombers but declines to reveal their findings. Rappler file photo

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Monday, May 21, refused to comment on China's landing bombers at the contested Paracel Islands that reportedly could strike nearly all of the Philippines' islands.

Speaking to reporters who raised the issue, AFP Spokesperson Colonel Edgardo Arevalo announced that the AFP has conducted patrols on the disputed waters. He, however, refused to elaborate the results.

"There are matters of national security that we cannot reveal to you because they necessarily have to be kept in confidence, otherwise we might be violating operational security," Arevalo said.

He said the mission's findings are currently being condensed to a report apparently headed for the eyes only of "higher headquarters and authorities at the national level"—at least for now.

What bombers? This comes after China's state-owned newspaper People's Daily reported of H-6K bombers landing "on an island reef at a southern sea area", later identified by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) as Woody Island – "China’s largest base in the Paracel Islands."

According to Arevalo, the AFP prefers that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) or the Department of National Defense comment on developments in the South China Sea.

The DFA, in a statement, refused to publicly condemn China, only vowing to monitor the superpower's moves in the disputed sea. "We are taking the appropriate diplomatic action necessary to protect our claims and will continue to do so in the future," the DFA said.

AFP's promise: Nonetheless, Arevalo said that the AFP will be steadfast in protecting the Philippines' sovereign rights should anything undesirable occur. (READ: Duterte pivots to China but his military turns to Australia, Japan)

"What we can assure our people is that your armed forces is doing its mandate [through patrols]...We can assure our people that your armed forces will never renege in its constitutional obligation to help secure and defend the territorial integrity of our nation," Arevalo said.

 

"There are other things that we are doing but we are not at liberty to reveal to you but these are part and parcel of what we are doing towards a fulfillment of such constitutional [mandate]," Arevalo added.

 

https://www.rappler.com/nation/203036-afp-statement-chinese-bombers-paracel-islands-south-china-sea