DND to resupply Marines on Ayungin Shoal
Resupply operations for the small military outpost on the grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal will resume following an international court’s ruling declaring the shoal and nearby waters part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“There was a scheduled resupply sometime last week but we postponed it because of the impending ruling because it might be misconstrued by the other party that we are provoking. But definitely we are going there to resupply them ( the troops) by any means,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said, referring to the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in favor of the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea issue.
He said re-provisioning and rotation of troops would also be carried out in the Kalayaan Island Group in the disputed Spratlys archipelago.
But Lorenzana stressed the resupply operation is routine and not meant to stir tension in the West Philippine Sea.
He added no unusual activities have been monitored in the area since the announcement of the PCA decision.
Western commander Vice Admiral Ronald Joseph Mercado, for his part, said the postponement of the resupply mission did not affect troops in Ayungin as they had enough supply.
“All our troops in all our island detachments have sufficient provisions. We don’t have any problems with that. We will resupply when provisions are depleted. Of course, we will not put our troops in a situation where they will agonize over provisions,” Mercado said.
Spratlys claimant states, except Brunei, have troops deployed in the disputed archipelago which Beijing entirely claims as its own, citing what it called historical facts.
Lorenzana is set to meet with his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts next week to hammer out an arrangement for addressing terrorism in the high seas.
“Sometime next week, I’ll be traveling to Malaysia. We will again discuss the worsening problem out there,” Lorenzana said, referring to the rampant Abu Sayyaf kidnapping of Indonesian and Malaysian nationals in the waters of Sulu.
Readying next move
Meanwhile, Press Secretary Ernesto Abella said the Duterte administration is still threshing out a post-arbitration strategy.
“We are really thinking through the right response, but the initial statement should be sometime after DFA Secretary (Perfecto) Yasay comes back from Mongolia,” Abella said in a briefing yesterday. Yasay is attending the Asia-Europe Summit Meeting Forum in Mongolia.
On the supposed appointment of former president Fidel Ramos as special envoy to China to conduct negotiations, Abella noted Ramos has not formally accepted Duterte’s proposal.
“Former president FVR did not decline but he did make a comment, saying that he may be too old,” Abella added.
Asked why Ramos was chosen for the post, Abella noted that Ramos was “obviously a wise spokesman.”
During his term as president, Ramos established good relations with China, which he pursued beyond his presidency.
Ramos has been active in pushing for cooperation with China, especially when he became chairman of the Board of Directors of Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) in 2009.
Ramos initially proposed the Boao Forum in 1998 along with Bob Hawke, former prime minister of Australia, and Morihiro Hosokawa, former prime minister of Japan.
The BFA was formally inaugurated on Feb. 27 2001, with Boao, Hainan province, China serving as the permanent site of its headquarters. Since 2002, BFA has been holding its annual conference at Boao.
The annual conference is a version of The World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Ramos is a frequent visitor, often playing golf, in Hainan – China’s southernmost province, whose geopolitical im- portance has risen along with tensions in the region.
As this developed, Abella said yesterday morning that local fishermen should proceed with caution as they go back to the rich fishing grounds in the disputed areas, including Masinloc Bay.
“Regarding the fishermen, we are saying that the fishermen are not prevented. However, they are cautioned to proceed with care,” Abella added.
EEZ
Duterte noted that the Philippines should assert its rights over areas within its EEZ.
“Now there are a lot of complications there. Because now that the tribunal has ruled, the arbitral decision states that… And if China would insist on a space domain, that you have to identify yourself before you can cross that vast sea there, America will not like it,” he said.
Duterte also noted the need to weigh the economic and political impacts of the decision on the Philippines before taking a strong stance.
“Although they insist it’s Philippine air space and, of course, the maritime security, it’s just too narrow there. If that closes, everything goes up, because even the insurance of the cargoes and the boats, and the ships there, will go up,” the President said.
“So you do create another problem for our economy and somebody else’s finances? So careful tayo diyan. We have to navigate with courtesy,” he said.
Work on Recto Bank
With the PCA making clear Recto (Reed) Bank is within the country’s EEZ, former solicitor general Florin Hilbay said oil exploration work in the area may now proceed.
“The characterization of the Reed Bank is that it is a fully submerged area within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and so, from the legal stand point, we have exclusive economic rights over Reed Bank,” he said in an interview yesterday.