Resupply to fall short after water cannon incident —Marcos

Provisions for servicemen stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre may have been affected after Chinese vessels trained water cannons on the Philippines' resupply mission to the outpost at Ayungin Shoal.

This was what President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said when asked about country's next move after the incident last Saturday, when several Chinese Coast Guard and military vessels performed dangerous maneuvers against four Philippine vessels, including bombarding them with water.

TIMELINE: Chinese water cannons, illegal maneuvers vs. Philippine resupply mission

"Buti na lang wala namang nasaktan, walang injury, ngunit magkukulang ang resupply na dinala sa Sierra Madre ngayon kaya’t kailangan natin isipin what we will do next," Marcos said.

(It's good that no one got injured, but the resupply that made it to the Sierra Madre will fall short. We need to think what to do next.)

Marcos said a command conference had been scheduled after the change of command rites of the Philippine Army that day, to discuss "how we will respond."

"But as you can imagine, ayokong pag-usapan ang operational aspects niyan [I don't want to discuss the operational aspects]. But we continue to assert our sovereignty," he said.

"We continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all of these challenges and consistent with the international law and UNCLOS especially," he added.

In 2016 the Philippines triumphed in a landmark ruling by an international tribunal that invalidated China's massive claims to nearly the entirety of the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, or the waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

China has refused to recognized the ruling, and has made repeated incursions into territories in the sea, as well as conducted reclamation activities in the area.

It has also defended the Ayungin Shoal incident, saying that it had taken "necessary controls" against Philippine boats that had "illegally" entered in what it claimed were its waters.

"Two repair ships and two coast guard ships from the Philippines illegally broke into the waters... in China's Nansha Islands," China Coast Guard spokesperson Gan Yu said.

This is not the first time that Chinese vessels have used water cannons against Philippine ships, or targeted resupply missions to the Sierra Madre, a rusting Navy ship that has been moored at Ayungin Shoal since 1999.

China on Monday repeated its demand that the Philippines remove the ship.

“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,” the statement read

“China immediately made serious démarches to the Philippines, demanding the removal of the vessel. The Philippines promised several times to tow it away but has yet to act. Not only that, the Philippines sought to overhaul and reinforce the military vessel in order to permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao,” it added.

The Philippines said that it would "never abandon" Ayungin.

“We will never abandon Ayungin Shoal.” - National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya @gmanews pic.twitter.com/D1klRTjRw4

— sandra aguinaldo (@sandraguinaldo) August 7, 2023

Philippine lawmakers condemned the August 5 incident, and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri urged Marcos to bring the issue before the international community.

The US, Canada, Japan, Australia and the European Union have also decried the event, restating their support for the 2016 arbitral ruling. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB/BM, GMA Integrated News