‘BRP Sierra Madre stays put’

PH junks China demand to remove ship from Ayungin Shoal

The Philippines on Tuesday said it will not accede to China’s demand that it remove the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal and denied Beijing’s claims that it promised to do so.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the deployment of a permanent station in Ayungin Shoal was actually a response to China’s illegal occupation of Panganiban Reef in 1995.

The National Security Council also denied China’s claims.

“The PH has not and will never enter into any agreement abandoning its sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Ayungin Shoal,” NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

Manila made the assertion after Beijing insisted that it has sovereignty over Ayungin Shoal, where China Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at boats resupplying the Filipino Marines on the BRP Sierra Madre.

Claiming the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) disregarded its warning and intruded into the waters it is “illegally claiming,” China said the Philippines must tow away its vessel there as it supposedly promised in 1999.

“Ren’ai Jiao has always been part of China’s Nansha Qundao. The historical context of the issue of Ren’ai Jiao is very clear. In 1999, the Philippines sent a military vessel and deliberately ran it aground at Ren’ai Jiao, attempting to change the status quo of Ren’ai Jiao illegally,” China’s Foreign Ministry said.

China also accused the Philippines of repeatedly taking unilateral actions to undermine the existing management status quo on the Second Thomas Shoal, the international name of Ayungin Shoal in the South China Sea.

But the DFA said the deployment of a Philippine military station in its own area of jurisdiction is an inherent right of the Philippines and does not violate any laws.

“Moreover, the Philippine station on Ayungin Shoal was deployed in 1999, years ahead of the conclusion in 2002 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and is therefore not a violation of the DOC,” it added.

The Philippines also maintained that the Ayungin Shoal, “as explicitly stated in the Award of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration, is a low-tide elevation that is not subject to sovereignty claims or appropriation,” so China could not justify its attack on the basis of protecting its sovereignty.

The DFA lamented that China “impeded the Philippines’ legitimate and regular activities in its own exclusive economic zone.”

Besides, the DFA said China also violated relevant provisions of 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) the Award on the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration the 1972 Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLGRES), and the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties

“The 2016 Arbitral Award is based on UNCLOS and affirms UNCLOS. It is final, legal, and binding. China as a state party to UNCLOS is well aware of that and we call on China to faithfully adhere to its obligations and commitments as a state party to UNCLOS,” DFA said.

Beijing suggested settling its dispute with Manila through dialogue, but the Philippines had already expressed frustration that various diplomatic initiatives, including note verbales and direct communication mechanisms, were not working.

Malaya, meanwhile, denied China’s claims that the Philippines vowed to remove its grounded warship in Ayungin Shoal.

In an interview with ANC, Malaya said that the Philippines did not make any commitment to China to remove the BRP Sierra Madre.

“We have no idea what they are talking about. I have talked to our

colleagues from the Department of Foreign Affairs, even the ones from the Department of National Defense from the previous administrations.

There was no commitment, whatsoever, as far as the Philippines is concerned and there is no record of any such commitment,” said Malaya.

“There is no record of a meeting or an official record that the Philippines, in the past, committed to China that it will tow away the BRP Sierra Madre,” he said.

The Philippines is using the grounded warship as a makeshift post to safeguard the country’s waters.

Malaya said the Philippines will not abandon its post in Ayungin Shoal, citing the need to resupply BRP Sierra Madre with food, supplies, and other much-needed provisions.

Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime Florcruz, meanwhile, told ABS-CBN News that the garrison stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre was part of “legitimate government activities.”

“The rotation and resupply mission to and the upkeep of the BRP Sierra Madre are legitimate Philippine government activities in our country’s exclusive economic zone, which are all in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS,” Florcruz said.

“China’s illegal exercise of maritime law enforcement powers; interference with a legitimate Philippine rotation and resupply mission, including its aggressive use of a water cannon against our vessels; and any other activity that infringes upon our sovereign rights and jurisdiction over Ayungin Shoal are violations of international law,” the ambassador said.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal may resume in the next two weeks, citing the need for it, following the Aug. 5 water cannon incident involving China Coast Guard ships.

AFP spokesperson Colonel Medel Aguilar said the BRP Sierra Madre remains an “active vessel of the Philippine Navy.”

“Our objective is to always make sure that our troops have the food, drinks and supplies they need to do their task there. We will not abandon BRP Sierra Madre,” he said in a radio interview.

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