The Philippines will continue to rely on privately contracted boats—and not military vessels — to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal so as not to provoke more aggressive actions by China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said Monday.
In an interview on ANC, PCG spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Philippines wants to prove that it is following the norm not to militarize the dispute in the WPS by not using Navy vessels in its resupply missions.
“We don’t want to escalate the tension. We don’t want to provoke anybody, whether it’s China or any other claimant states. We want to show the world that we are in alignment with the regional norm of not militarizing the dispute and we’re not also going to violate any provision that would say we are still using military or Navy vessels in supporting our resupply mission,” he said.
On Friday, the PCG successfully entered Ayungin Shoal after evading several China Coast Guard vessels and Chinese militia vessels. One of the supply boats was hit by a Chinese water cannon.
The PCG escorted two boats on a resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II ship grounded at the shoal since 1999 that serves as a Philippine outpost in the WPS.
Tarriela said the Philippines is carrying out safe, routine operations, but it cannot say whether the Chinese will take more aggressive actions, such as ramming Philippine boats.
Earlier, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez suggested resupplying the BRP Sierra Madre by air to avoid putting civilian crews and boats in danger.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has yet to comment on the suggestion.
Resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal have been met with stiff resistance and aggressive maneuvers by Chinese ships in recent weeks.
A Chinese Coast Guard vessel used a water cannon to try to drive away M/L Kalayaan, a civilian boat operated by the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan, during the resupply mission last week.
Attempts to block another mission in late October resulted in collisions between Chinese and Philippine vessels, including the coast guard’s BRP Cabra.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said Philippine troops were unfazed by China’s bullying tactics.
“We will always make it happen for our rotation and resupply missions,” he said.
Meanwhile, maritime security expert Ray Powell said the Philippines has developed “one of the most innovative and important counter gray zone tactics” regarding its dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea.
The Philippines has been bringing along more journalists in its recent resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin shoal, helping expose China’s “harassment” and “dangerous maneuvers” against Philippine vessels.
“I think that the Philippines’ sort of transparency campaign is not only significant for the Philippines. I think the world has a lot to learn from this and I really hope that nations around the region and around the world are taking careful note of what the Philippines is doing,” Powell said.
“Frankly, this may be one of the most innovative and important counter gray zone tactics that we’ve seen develop in a very long time,” he told ANC’s Headstart.
The National Defense College of the Philippines defines “gray zone” as “an effort… to achieve one’s security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force.”
“In engaging in a gray zone strategy, an actor seeks to avoid crossing a threshold that results in war,” it said.
In other developments:
* Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte appealed to the government to pursue joint WPS patrols with the United States and other allies in the face of recent Chinese aggression. Villafuerte, majority leader for the House contingent on Commission on Appointments, said he expects the talks to prosper before the year is over to “put an end to Beijing’s bullying in the Indo-Pacific seas.”
Putting the US and other like-minded allies onboard the planned multilateral patrols is urgent, Villafuerte said, particularly now that the PCG monitored a fleet of 38 Chinese vessels near Ayungin Shoal.
* The military said it will continue with its resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, which stands guard over the Ayungin Shoal in the WPS, despite the increasing number of Chinese vessels in the waters. “What we are doing is simple and this is a legitimate operation that cannot be stopped or prevented by anyone. It is important that we show the whole world that we are asserting our jurisdiction and sovereign rights in Ayungin Shoal,” said AFP spokesperson Col. Medel Aguilar.
