Ayungin Shoal incident up for discussion as AFP chief visits Wescom

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Thursday visited the Western Command (Wescom) headquarters at Camp General Artemio Ricarte in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

AFP public affairs office chief Lieutenant Colonel Enrico Ileto said the Wescom will give Brawner a briefing, which will include the August 5 incident in Ayungin Shoal involving Chinese vessels.

Wescom has operation control over Ayungin and the West Philippine Sea.

“Most probably, kasama doon yung nangyari sa recently sa Ayungin Shoal to give the chief of staff an update  and to give him a clear picture kung ano talaga ang nangyari,” he told reporters.

(Most probably, the briefing would cover the recent incident in Ayungin Shoal to give the chief of staff an update  and to give him a clear picture of what really happened.)

On August 5, Chinese vessels used water cannons and conducted dangerous maneuvers against Philippine vessels to block the latter’s resupply mission to the military’s BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

The BRP Sierra Madre has been grounded at the shoal since 1999. The ship, manned by more than a dozen Marines and sailors, has become a symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the offshore territory.

Beijing, meanwhile, claimed that the Philippine ships intruded into the Ayungin Shoal, which it said is part of its territory, and violated China's laws during the conduct of the resupply mission.

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Ayungin is part of the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

In July 2016, the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, based on a case filed by the Philippines, junked China's nine-dash line claim covering the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea. China has refused to acknowledge the ruling.—Joviland Rita/LDF, GMA Integrated News