by Daniel Long

 

“The root of the disputes presented by the Philippines in this arbitration lies not in any intention on the part of China or the Philippines to infringe on the legal rights of the other, but rather – in fundamentally different understandings of their respective rights under the Convention in the waters of the South China Sea.” – The South China Sea Arbitration Award of July 12, 2016

“There are armies not to be attacked, and territory not to be fought over.” – Sun Tzu, author of “The Art of War”

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

On June 17, the China Coast Guard (CCG) interfered with a Philippine government rotation and resupply (RORE) mission for its marines stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal. The Philippine mission involved six vessels – the civilian vessel ML Lapulapu and Philippine Navy RHIBs (rigid-hull inflatable boats). CCG RHIBs rammed into the PH Navy vessels and a Navy Special Operations Group (NAVSOG) sergeant named Jeffrey Facundo lost his right thumb in the collision. According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the CCG used “coercive, aggressive, and barbaric actions” in boarding the PH vessels and confiscating seven rifles from the PH troops, and using bladed weapons to puncture and deflate the PH rubber boats. AFP chief Romeo Brawner Jr. described China’s actions as “piracy” and demanded the return of the confiscated arms and reparations for ship damages. According to the Chinese newspaper China Daily, it was the first time the CCG boarded PH vessels and conducted inspections. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) was allowed by the Chinese to retrieve the damaged RHIBs by 12 noon and the injured personnel by 10:30pm.

On June 19, PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gavan admitted that the PCG only had a limited role during the June 17 RORE mission by providing the rescue activity. On June 21, The National Maritime Council led by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin conducted a press conference with Presidential Assistant on Maritime Concerns Ret. General Andres Centino. Centino corrected earlier media reports that there were eight injured soldiers saying there was only one who was injured in the June 17 incident in Ayungin Shoal. Bersamin seemed to downplay the incident and expressed willingness to dialogue with China, saying that the incident was a “misunderstanding” and an “accident”. He clarified that the RORE missions were to be civilian (Coast Guard) and not military (Navy, AFP) in nature. He also recommended to the President to make public the schedule of future RORE missions to the BRP Sierra Madre. When asked if the PH government would invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the US, he said it was never considered for the incident. “This was probably a misunderstanding or an accident. We’re not ready to classify this as an armed attack…We saw bolo, axe, nothing beyond that.”, Bersamin said. On June 22, PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela claimed that China had no intention to harm Filipino soldiers. He said, “Their (China Coast Guard) objective is NOT to have an armed attack or an aggression, but rather to prevent the Philippine government from completing the resupply mission. We can say there was a misinterpretation of China’s true intentions in that regard.” But on June 24, Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said in a press conference that the government was not downplaying the incident. He said, “It was not a misunderstanding or accident, it was an aggressive use of force.” Teodoro also thumbed down ES Bersamin’s recommendation to publicize future RORE missions. Finally, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo said yesterday (June 25) in a Senate hearing that a bilateral consultation mechanism between Filipino and Chinese counterparts would be held next month in July to pursue a peaceful resolution of the dispute in Ayungin Shoal.

Let me be clear. The actions on the part of China should be condemned by every patriotic Filipino. Likewise, we must also condemn the reckless and suicidal foreign policy of the BBM government that led us to this point. This kind of encounter never took place in the past six administrations. It is very embarrassing for us that Chinese Coast Guard (civilian) personnel wielding mere knives were able to confiscate rifles from Philippine Navy Seal (military) soldiers with one soldier even losing a finger, and in my opinion, in vain. I feel sorry for our military frontliners. They are not toys and their lives should not be needlessly gambled by their superiors sitting comfortably in air-conditioned offices. China did not provoke us in this case, we provoked them by sending a Navy ship to a disputed area. It does not follow that just because China is a big country and we are a small country that they are the bullies and we are the victims. As Senator Imee Marcos once said, “We started it. We picked a fight and then ngayon, ‘yun pala hindi natin kaya. Ano bang klase ‘yun? Talagang takaw gulpi tayo.” In September 2023, President Marcos Jr. had the wisdom to “civilianize” and “demilitarize’ his approach to Ayungin Shoal. That meant that only white ships (Coast Guard) would be used in RORE missions to keep tensions low because they are not under the military. This distinction is not a mere technicality. The question is, did the President rescind his order to not send gray ships (Navy) to Ayungin? If so, when? If not, then who ordered the operation? This incident should not be viewed in isolation and neither should we portray ourselves as victims of an unprovoked attack. Ayungin Shoal is under dispute after all, and it takes two to tango. We Filipinos must sober up and do away with the drama and victim mentality. If we are to speak of bullying and harassment, then the Philippine Coast Guard is not innocent. In 2013, 8 PCG personnel were involved in the shooting and killing of an unarmed Taiwanese fisherman named Hung Shih-cheng (Guang Da Xing No. 28 incident) within the disputed and overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZ) of the Philippines and Taiwan.

There is no “unity” within this administration. We have the Executive Secretary, often referred to as the “Little President”, the highest ranking official in the Cabinet and the Chairman of the National Maritime Council, being countermanded by the Secretary of Defense. The former says the June 17 incident was a misunderstanding and an accident while the latter says it was a deliberate act of aggression. Even PCG Commodore Jay Tarriela had the sense to align with his superiors saying the Chinese had no intention to harm our troops when days before he used adjectives like “provocative” and “barbarism” to describe the incident. The question in most people’s minds is, where is the President, the chief architect of foreign policy, in all of this to give a definitive statement on the matter?

What really grinds my gears was to hear US Ex-Air Force Colonel Raymond Powell lecture us Filipinos and pretend he knows better than us how to handle our sea row with China. Powell said in an interview that the June 17 incident was “clearly not an accident and misunderstanding” and discouraged
de-escalation of tensions calling it a “trap”. “I think those are unfortunate words.”, he said of ES Bersamin’s description. Shame on ABS-CBN for even giving a platform to this unelected foreign meddler! Powell couldn’t even control his thirst for Filipino & Chinese blood saying, “[You] have a Mutual Defense Treaty for a reason. You should be able to appeal to a Mutual Defense Treaty under the terms of the treaty when your territorial integrity and sovereignty are being threatened.” Powell is lying.

The US does not recognize our sovereignty over the Spratlys or any of its features like Ayungin Shoal. If one still has the delusion that the US will defend the Philippines in the event of a Chinese armed attack in the Spratlys because of the Mutual Defense Treaty, one should consult the 2024 Annual Threat Assessment report (p. 26) of the U.S. Intelligence Community which refers to Ayungin Shoal as a “disputed area” and does not even use the phrase “West Philippine Sea”. When asked about the Philippines’ claim to the Spratly Islands, Retired US Admiral Harry Harris Jr. responds with, “We don’t recognize the territorial claims that the Philippines has even though those claims are in the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines and the ones that are in question…Scarborough Shoal and Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal and so those islands are contested space so we don’t recognize the sovereignty of them.”

Let us set the conversation in its proper context. We should not be manipulated by politicians and influencers who hide their ignorance behind patriotism. Branding people who have a holistic view of the sea disputes as “traitors” is not productive. Bandwagoning on hashtags like #AtinAngWestPhilippineSea on social media like spoiled brats will not solve the problem either. First, Ayungin Shoal is not sovereign Philippine “territory”, but merely a low-tide elevation within the 200 nautical miles of “Exclusive Economic Zone” granted to us by the UNCLOS. (United Nations Convention for the Laws of the Seas, Article 3 & 57) Philippine territory ends at 12 nautical miles from Palawan’s shoreline – Ayungin Shoal is 93nm beyond that limit. (105 nm). Second, In 1999, President Joseph “Erap” Estrada deliberately grounded the BRP Sierra Madre, a Philippine Navy gray ship, at Ayungin Shoal in response to the Chinese building civilian structures at the nearby Mischief Reef. Third, Ayungin Shoal is disputed not just by China and us, but by ROC (Taiwan) and Vietnam as well. Fourth, as far as China is concerned, they are merely enforcing their sovereignty claims in Ayungin because we turn back on our own commitments to 1) send only civilian white ships (Coast Guard) and not military gray ships (Navy) and 2) resupply only humanitarian goods (food, water, medicine, clothes) to the BRP Sierra Madre and not conduct maintenance operations. (bring construction materials, welding, etc.) Fifth, the Philippines cannot appeal to UNCLOS or even the 2016 arbitral award to condemn China’s actions as Paragraph 1203 of the Hague ruling says the situation at Ayungin Shoal involves “military activities”, which is outside of UNCLOS’ scope. Regarding AFP chief Brawner’s classification of the incident as “piracy”, Article 101 (a) of UNCLOS defines piracy as an act directed “against a ship, aircraft, persons, or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State.” If the June 17 incident was piracy, and the definition of piracy is that it is an act that takes place outside the jurisdiction of a state, is Brawner saying that Ayungin Shoal is outside of our jurisdiction?

Do we really know what we are fighting for? In this case, it is about maintaining a dilapidated and rusted shipwreck full of holes called the BRP Sierra Madre. Sorry, but I don’t believe that our country’s flag should be raised for such an inane cause. If these war-freaks and keyboard warriors on social media really want to fight an unwinnable war with China, a nuclear armed superpower and boasts the world’s largest navy, over an environmental hazard polluting the shoal and possibly causing tetanus to our soldiers stationed there, then they should go ahead and volunteer for the marines. Article 195 of UNCLOS states that governments must take measures “to prevent, reduce, and control pollution of the marine environment.” We will be accused of violating that part of maritime international law when the BRP Sierra Madre succumbs to the elements, that is something I do not romanticize. Marine ecology should not be sacrificed at the expense of Pinoy Pride.

Am I not valid for suspecting there are elements in the administration that intentionally provoked the June 17 incident at Ayungin to cover up the June 14 Reuters expose that the US military deliberately targeted the Filipino public in spreading misinformation against China’s Sinovac vaccine? For me, the timing is suspicious, it really does seem like they needed a diversion. ABS-CBN even reported that the head of the Anti-COVID National Task Force Carlito Galvez said, “I believe it [Reuters report] is not true.” This is like concerned friends pleading with a young girl to leave her abusive boyfriend and she still defends him. US government officials themselves have admitted to their crimes against our people and we are still in denial. If the US government is willing to gamble with Filipino lives during a worldwide pandemic, what makes us think they will die for us to defend a rusting ship on a submerged shoal?

U.S. four-star Air Force General Mike Minihan had predicted last year that a US war with China over Taiwan would happen by 2025, which is only 6 months away. Taiwan Deputy Foreign Minister Chung-kwang Tien even welcomed the deployment of the US’ 1st Typhon Mid-Range Capability missile system to Northern Luzon on April 11. Wow, many Filipinos do not even have three meals a day but our government is joining the US’ war preparations for “Taiwan independence” which is none of our business?

On June 1, nearly 2 million Meralco customers were hit by brownouts. On June 13, Vietnam Express reported that Vietnam has already surpassed the Philippines as China’s top banana supplier. The Bank of America has warned us that if tensions with China continue to increase, our development and economy (tourism, investments, trade) will suffer. The only war Marcos Jr. should declare is a war on poverty, high prices, and hunger.

Many have already come to the conclusion that he has a suicidal foreign policy against China so that he can recover the remaining $125M of his family’s hidden wealth in the United States. After all, the best time to do it would be now when he is President and has diplomatic immunity – he has a $353M contempt judgment by a Hawaii District Court which means he will be arrested if he entered the US as an ordinary citizen. 120 million lives should not be sacrificed for a few billion dollars. No to US-BBM proxy war!

   

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