By Herman Tiu Laurel

 

                While one side of the split personality of PBBM worked out with China a deesclation scheme for the Ayungin Shoal Rotation and Resupply (RORE) missions to the unrealizable U.S. Forward Operating Base (US-FOB) BRP Sierra Madre frustrating its “assertive transparenccy” strategy, the other lobotomized side of BBM’s brain taken over by the Americans thought up the Sabina Shoal BRP Sierra Teresa Magbanua US-FOB as a new locus for tension to propagandize.

                China had seen through the U.S. ploy concocted with its Filipino proxies weeks before, but now the suspicion of the Chinese government is confirmed and validated by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) announcement dated August 27, 2024 in media that, as the oligarchy-owned ABS-CBN headlined, “PCG says it will not pull out BRP Teresa Magbanua from Escoda.” Maybe China will be ready to starve out the Sierra Madre 2.0 this time.

                The PCG was forced to abort its resupply mission for BRP Teresa Magbanua in Sabina or Escoda shoal just two days before the latest announced intransigence from the PCG, and the Raymond Powell mannequin voice of Jay Tarriela was reported saying “food supplies and provisions for the over  10 crewmen on board… are at a critical level.” China stopped the latest resupply mission with 6 CCG ships, 2 PLAN ships and, as Tarriela claims, 36 Chinese maritime militia vessels.

                The great Big Brother of Tarriela was nowhere to be found to bring succour to the crew of BRP Teresa Magbanua, or to help Tarriela out. Tarriela complains that China does not adhere to UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Award but the latter said, “… the Tribunal emphasises that nothing in this Award should be understood to comment in any way on China’s historic claim to the islands of the South China Sea…” as China lays its claim on the higher and infinitely older Customary International Law.

                Philippine U.S. proxies never explain Customary International Law and the basis for territorial claim, they jump to the UNCLOS and the arbitration award to dupe the audience. The final bases for territorial assertion are occupation, exercise of sovereign and control, long term administration and development. In this sense China is now demonstrating its effective occupation, administration and control of the Second Thomas and Sabina (Escoda) shoals.

                PBBM Big Brother U.S. seeing the flagging courage of little brown brother and Buffalo Bill black soldier descendant Brawner (so the story goes) steps up with U.S. Info-Pac Command Admiral Samuel Paparo speaking at an event in Manila August 27, 2024 opined that U.S. ships could escort Philippine vessels on resupply missions in the SCS saying its “an entirely reasonable option.” The Americans and proxy Filipinos have been floating that since August 2023, China’s just waiting.

                While Admiral Paparo is talking tough here in Manila, the U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan is in Beijing beseeching China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi to keep “strategic channel of communication open and stabilize ties”. Does that sound like a superpower who will confront another superpower physically or does it look like Ukraine where the U.S. is fighting behind every Ukrainian soldier while keeping U.S. forces far away in Germany and other E.U. states enjoying beer?

                Predictably, a day later on August 28, 2024, Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Pat Ryder in an exercise of splendid circumlocution clarified that the U.S. role in support of Philippine defense needs if advice and modernization, and any request for direct assistance such as suggested in the talk of IndoPacCom chief Paparo would be subject to consulation. Gen. Brawner himself also gave an escape hatch for Paparo saying the Philippines can ”still fend for itself.”

                The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is now reported by CNN to have 370 surface ships and submarines in service to the U.S. 292 ships and submarines, the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) has 250 ships to the U.S. 250 too but deployed in the U.S. coasts, but China also has thousands of volunteer-maritime militia that can be called upon instantaneously. The Philippines has 66 ships and no civilian fishermen volunteers – attempts to recruit maritime militia have been rejected by Filipino fishermen.

                The Philippines had already suffered humiliation in the June 2024 “lost finger” encounter with the CCG in a navy seal secrecy shrouded operation the Chinese repelled quite easily, is the Philippines prepared for another major humiliation at Sabina shoal? The “backdoor grounding of BRP Teresa Magbanua” and the deceitful proposal for “expansion of the Ayungin deal” has been exposed. Likewise, the U.S. treachery in using the Philippines as a “usual idiot” in taunting and riling China. ###

   

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