Under consideration by DND—PH ambassador to US

US troops may be put on standby mode in other areas in the West Philippine Sea, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Romualdez said.

In an interview with GMA News Online, Romualdez said the forward deployment is “still under consideration by the Department of National Defense.”

This followed the revelation by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III of the existence of a US Task Force Ayungin amid persistent geopolitical tensions involving the West Philippine Sea.

There are at least two sites – Antonio Bautista Airbase and Balabac – under the US-PH Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement in Palawan, which faces directly onto the West Philippine Sea

Romualdez said the creation of the US task force was part of the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Defense Treaty between Manila and Washington.

The task force’s creation underscores the strategic significance of Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas), where the rotation and resupply missions (RoRe) of the Philippine Coast Guard are implemented for the BRP Sierra Madre grounded on the shoal.

The submerged reef lies about 200 kilometers from Palawan, which makes it legally part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

China claims the shoal despite its more than 1,000 kilometers distance from its nearest major landmass, Hainan island.

Pentagon spokesman Maj. Pete Nguyen said: “The task force is composed of US forces providing our Philippines allies with enhanced cooperation and interoperability for their maritime operations.”

“US forces have decades of close partnership with the Philippines. This task force is a continuation of that longstanding relationship in support of our shared security interests,” Nguyen added.

National Security Adviser Secretary Eduardo Año said the task force has no “direct participation” in resupply missions to Ayungin and only provides support to the operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

“They are providing support to us, for example, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and maritime domain awareness. They help by giving information,” he said.

“On actual direct participation, (the resupply mission) is purely and solely a Philippine forces operation—the (Western Command) supported by the (Philippine Coast Guard),” Año added.

Meanwhile, Senate Deputy Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros expressed her support for the task force.

“The establishment of the Ayungin Task Force is a welcome development. It enhances the peaceful, non-violent, and effective strategies that the Philippines is developing through political and diplomatic actions to assert and promote our victory in The Hague,” Hontiveros said.

She said more countries are aligning with the Philippines, with the US already participating, alongside other nations in the ASEAN region, the broader Asia-Pacific area, and even in other regions of the world.

“I am also looking forward to joint patrols involving our navies and our Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), along with agriculture departments or ministries, to firmly assert that the rule of law should prevail at sea,” Hontiveros said.