AFP to implement changes in WPS resupply missions — Brawner

Changes will be applied to the resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) after Filipino military personnel were injured in China’s water cannon attack during the latest operation in Ayungin Shoal, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Wednesday.

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. made the statement during a visit to the Western Command (Wescom) in Palawan on Tuesday.

In a statement, the AFP said, “As (General Brawner) checked the status of wounded personnel and awarded those who contributed in previous rotation and reprovisioning missions, the CSAFP said that they will be implementing changes in the [rotation and resupply operations].”

Brawner told the troops to “keep up their good work,” the AFP said, in completing the resupply missions in the WPS.

“What you are doing here has strategic implications,” Brawner said.

“The whole world is watching us so let us continue with our determination and resolve to accomplish our mission and the conduct of our RoRe operations,” he added.

Three Philippine Navy personnel were injured after China Coast Guard ships fired water cannons at their civilian contracted ship, the Unaizah May 4, during their resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal on March 23.

The China Coast Guard described its actions as “lawful regulation, interception and expulsion” of a foreign vessel that “tried to forcefully intrude” into Chinese waters.

However, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) said China Coast Guard’s “unprovoked aggression, coercion, and dangerous maneuvers” endangered the lives of Filipinos on board the Unaizah May 4.

In the wake of the incident, the United States condemned China’s “dangerous actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations” in the contested waters.

The United States and the Philippines are signatories to the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, wherein the two countries recognize that an armed attack on either of them would be dangerous to their respective peace and safety. The two countries also declared that they would act to meet the common dangers in accordance with their constitutional processes.

US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said in a GMA Integrated News interview that the MDT has “great value” in deterring conflict in the region. On Tuesday, members of a US congressional delegation expressed support for the Philippines amid China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Parts of the waters within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have been renamed as West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected. — VDV, GMA Integrated News