March 8 ------ The Philippines will continue regular rotation and resupply (RoRe) missions to Ayungin Shoal despite running low on supply boats. Western Command Commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos said deterioration of government indigenous resupply boats will not affect the conduct of the regular RoRe missions. “We have other options naman na pinag-aaralan namin," he said.
Some of the options include managing the load on the remaining supply boats without sacrificing the transport of needed supplies to stationed troops on board the BRP Sierra Madre. The World War 2-vessel was deliberately run aground by Philippine troops on Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands to serve as an outpost of the Philippine Marine Corps and to assert Philippine sovereignty. "Hindi sila mauubusan ng pagkain, ng fuel, ng tubig. Kung ano man ang pangangailangan nila, hindi mangyayari 'yun, 'yan ang sinisiguro natin,” Carlos said.
Carlos earlier said the Unaizah May 4, the Philippines' newest and bigger resupply boat, was damaged after the Chinese Coast Guard hit it with water cannon during the RoRe mission on March 5. The windshield was shattered due to the water cannon attack. Repair of the damaged windshield will not take long, he said. “Madali lang ito, nakita niyo naman on her own power nakabalik si UM4 sa Ayungin after the water cannon so yung windshield lang madali, will probably install yung reinforce glass para matibay-tibay and yung cctv na nasira madali namang papalitan yan,” he clarifies.
Meanwhile, Unaizah May 1, used in the recent mission, will be scheduled for repair as some parts of the boat have started to deteriorate. The repairs will be done right after completion of repairs on the Unaizah May 2. “May scheduled repairs lang siya na kailangang gawin, maintenance ng makina, some hull repairs, 'yung mga medyo mahina nang parte ng hull na above naman the water line, papalitan natin kasi kahoy siya. If we need to use it in the next RoRe next month, pwede pa naman, pwede pa, kaya pa kaya lang hindi siya nasa 100 percent na optimal level na readiness niya to conduct this possible mission,” he added.
The Western Command has 5 indigenous resupply boats: The Unaizah May 1, Unaizah May 2, Unaizah May 3, and ML Kalayaan which they borrowed from the local government of Kalayaan. The newest is the Unaizah May 4, which was used in the latest mission in Ayungin Shoal. The only functioning ones, however, are the UM 1 and UM 4.
Vice Admiral Carlos said the UM 2 is still under repair after it was hit by China Coast Guard in last year’s RoRe mission. ML Kalayaan is under repair also after it was water cannoned by China Coast Guard in its previous mission.
The UM 3, according to Vice Admiral Carlos, is seldom used because it is small and will not withstand big waves.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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