MANILA, December 31 ------ The Philippine Navy reported that it conducted some 300 maritime sovereignty and surveillance patrols, and about 100 surveillance flights in the West Philippine Sea this year. It has also conducted over 60 rotation and reprovisioning (RoRe) missions to the nine Philippine-occupied features in the said waters. “For the Philippine Navy, we have exceeded our targets this year… We have performed more than 500 maritime surveillance, maritime sovereignty patrols, air surveillance flights,” Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Trinidad said the Armed Forces of the Philippines remained committed to fulfilling its mandate to protect the country’s rights despite China’s growing aggression in the West Philippine Sea. “2024 was a very successful year, not only for the AFP, but for the entire country. The AFP was able to perform its mandate amid all the challenges that we faced, not only in the West Philippine Sea, but to include the northern islands and the eastern seaboards,” Trinidad said. “We look forward to more accomplishments of the AFP in 2025. What we could expect is your AFP will keep on performing its mandate amid all the challenges internally and externally,” he continued.
Trinidad also reiterated President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s statement ruling out the deployment of Navy warships to counter Beijing’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea. The official stressed that the AFP “has never left” the disputed waterway. “The guidance of the commander in chief has been very clear… All our actions should be within the bounds of international law, should be non-escalatory, should support the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling. The AFP has never left the area. Mandato nating tiyakin ang integridad ng ating teritoryo. Different patrol plans on sea and over air are being conducted by the Northern Luzon Command and the Western Command,” Trinidad said.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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