Video shows China vessel chasing, crashing into PH boat

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) released videos of recent aggressive Chinese actions that seriously injured a Philippine Navy  (PN) sailor during a rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) mission in the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In  Joseph Morong’s “24 Oras” report Monday, an AFP video showed a Chinese  Coast Guard (CCG) boat chasing a PN vessel before ramming it during the June 17 RORE mission.

The impact caused two sailors on the Filipino ship to almost fall over and seriously injured Seaman First  Class Underwater Operator Jeffrey Facundo who lost a thumb in the incident.

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. over the weekend conferred Facundo with the Order of Lapu-Lapu Rank of Kampilan.

Marcos also awarded 79 other servicemen who took part in the mission with the Order of Lapu-Lapu Rank of Kamagi.

“I salute the eighty officers and troops who sailed the waters and exercised the greatest restraint amidst intense provocation on June 17th. We made a conscious and deliberate choice to remain in the path of peace,” said Marcos.

“Kailanman ay hindi tayo magpapasupil at magpapaapi kahit na kanino man,” the President added.

(We will never let anyone intimidate or oppress us.)

Nevertheless, Marcos emphasized that the Philippines would not use force or intimidation or deliberately inflict injury or harm amid tensions in the WPS.

The Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) — called Ren’ai Reef by China — is a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands, which is a group of more than  100 islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

It is 105 nautical miles west of Palawan, is within the country’s 200-mile  exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and is part of its continental shelf.

Near the shores of Ayungin is a Philippine Navy vessel called the BRP Sierra Madre, which was run aground in 1999. The ship has become a symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the offshore territory.

The government regularly conducts RORE missions to provide food and other supplies to the soldiers stationed on the BRP Sierra Madre.

China alleged that the Philippine government earlier agreed to remove the aging ship, and later on claimed a "new model" for managing the situation at Ayungin Shoal was reached.

Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West  Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad however said the issue of China’s supposed new model agreement with the Philippines was a “dead  story.”

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce,  including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

This is despite an arbitral ruling that invalidated its massive claims in the resource-rich area.

Beijing has ignored the ruling and instead continued to strengthen its presence, including its aggressive actions, in the region. — Sundy Locus/DVM, GMA Integrated News