Contrary to China’s claims, the Philippines has not committed to remove BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal as it serves as the country’s military outpost for Filipino troops in the area that is now becoming the latest flashpoint between Manila and Beijing.

National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the claim of China that the Philippines agreed to tow away the dilapidated ship from Ayungin Shoal is nothing but a “fiction of imagination.”

“Kailan nangyari ‘yang commitment na yan? Sino ang nagsabi? (When did that commitment happen? Who gave it?) It will be very difficult for us to respond to a hypothetical question on the part of China because insofar as we're concerned, we have not and will never sign or agree to anything that would in effect abandon our sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea,” said Malaya, who is also an assistant director general of the National Security Council (NSC), on Tuesday, August 8.

Malaya stressed that that there is “no record or any minutes of a meeting, formal report, legal document, or verbal agreement” from the Philippine side which states that it would tow away BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal.

“We can consider this I think a fiction of the imaginations of the Chinese ambassador because we know nothing about it,” Malaya said.

BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57) is a tank landing ship that was deliberately ran aground on Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to be an outpost of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP). It is being maintained by personnel from the Philippine Marine Corps.

Last August 5, Chinese vessels performed dangerous maneuvers and fired water cannon at two Philippine boats escorted by two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships while they were en route to Ayungin Shoal to bring supplies to troops onboard BRP Sierra Madre.

In a statement, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that the Philippines “explicitly promised several times” to tow away BRP Sierra Madre, saying that it was “illegally grounded” at the area they called “Ren’ai Jiao.” 

“However, 24 years have passed and instead of towing it away, the Philippines has sought to repair and reinforce it on a large scale in order to permanently occupy Ren’ai Jiao,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

China also accused the Philippine vessels of bringing construction materials to Ayungin Shoal, a claim that has been denied by the AFP.

“Trust more the words of our government officials who are fighting for what is right under international laws, reinforced by the arbitral award, and what is good for the Filipino people,” said Col. Medel Aguilar, AFP spokesperson.