Pinoy soldiers won’t leave KIG posts

No amount of security threats can compel contingents of Filipino troops from leaving or abandoning their outposts and stations in the Kalayaan Island Group in the disputed Spratlys archipelago, a senior military official said yesterday.

“Unless otherwise ordered by top political leadership, our mandate is very clear to our troops that they are being deployed out there to guard and protect our own territorial sovereignty,” a senior military official said in referring to the mounting tension in the region caused by China’s aggressive incursion and massive reclamation and infrastructure developments at Panganiban (Mischief) and Mabini Reefs.

The domineering presence of the Chinese in the region, the military official said while expressing some apprehension, is not deterring the military from its resolve from continuously conducting the routine resupply and troop rotation operations in the Spratlys.

Filipino troops are on forward deployment on all nine islets and two reefs of Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) guarding and protecting the country’s sovereignty. They are resupplied regularly of their required provisions and are being rotated every three months.

“They’ve (Chinese) been there at Panganiban Reef but we have been rotating and resupplying our troops at Ayungin Shoal to date. For now, we will do what’s required of us to perform and that is addressing the moral and welfare of our troops out there,” another military official said.

When reached to comment on the status of the troops deployed in the region, Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc, Armed Forces of the Philippines-Public Affairs Office chief, said the military will maintain the presence of its troops in the disputed region to guard the country’s maritime domain.

Cabunoc stressed though, that as a matter of national policy, the military is fully behind the country’s position of settling the claims peacefully.