Filipino troops ‘successfully drove away’ Chinese vessels in Ayungin — Brawner

MANILA, August 26 ------ Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff General Romeo Brawner Jr said that Filipino troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre successfully drove away Chinese vessels that had entered Ayungin Shoal.

Brawner added that the soldiers removed the fishing nets that the Chinese maritime militia installed inside the reef. “The situation is improving. Yes, nandun pa rin sila sa paligid ng Ayungin Shoal… pero malayo naman. We were successful in pushing them outward,” Brawner told reporters in an interview in Palawan. “Nag-lay sila ng fishing nets… Ang utos ng Western Command commander was for our troops to cut the fishing nets so that mobility would still be allowed within the shoal.”

AFP Western Command chief Vice Admiral Alfonso Torres Jr. stressed that the military remains on constant alert for any eventuality. “We are always on alert. We don’t have to be on extra alert. We are always on alert,” he said. According to Brawner, the AFP will conduct another rotation and resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre “one of these days.”

The military hopes Beijing will continue to respect its provisional understanding with Manila on the conduct of resupply missions in the shoal. “Pareho pa rin ang preparations natin for the resupply mission because we believe that the agreement set by the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] and their Chinese counterpart still stands, kaya we are optimistic na pagdating sa time na magreresupply tayo, rerespetuhin nila ang ating resupply mission,” Brawner noted. “It is our right to do the resupply mission dahil karapatan nating suportahan ang ating mga tropa sa BRP Sierra Madre,” he emphasized.

Brawner was in San Vicente town for the Combined Joint Forcible Entry Operations (CJFEO) staged by Filipino and Australian forces as part of Exercise Alon 2025. An FA-50 fighter jet of the Philippine Air Force and an F-18 Hornet of the Royal Australian Air Force flew together over San Vicente, dropping mock bombs in a show of airpower. At sea, the Philippine Navy’s fast attack interdiction craft (FAIC) unleashed firepower before Philippine Marine Corps and Australian Defense Force personnel stormed the shoreline on rubber boats.

The troops’ mission: retake a mock enemy-controlled building. According to Brawner, the scenario reflected the security challenges faced by the country’s western seaboards. “Napakaimportante na ginawa natin ang exercise dito sa Palawan… It is very significant because of mga nakikita nating threats we are facing. Palawan is one of those areas. We have to be able to rehearse the defense of our western seaboards,” Brawner explained. But Torres clarified that the exercise was not directed at China. Rather, it was aimed to strengthen interoperability and defense readiness. “No. We are, actually, doing the exercise for us to strengthen cooperation, and enhance ang capabilities natin, and to deepen our security cooperation with our allies,” Torres said. “Napakahalaga ng ganitong exercises sa Wescom para maorient ang mga sundalo natin at allies natin sa security landscape dito sa Western Command,” he added.

The U.S. Marines also joined the exercise with an airfield seizure drill using the V-22 Osprey, a tiltrotor military transport and cargo aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing, and short landing and takeoff capabilities.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles personally observed the drills. The two officials had earlier signed a statement of intent to deepen defense and security cooperation. Teodoro dismissed possible criticism from China. “We expect criticism, but we will do what we need to do. The criticisms of the PRC [People’s Republic of China] are really paranoia and propaganda,” Teodoro said. Marles emphasized that the exercises underscored both countries’ commitment to a rules-based order. “What we are exercising and the outcome of this—this is cooperation of two countries that assert the rules-based order. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com