Medical specialists have reattached the severed thumb of a Philippine Navy (PN) personnel who got severely injured when Chinese boats rammed a vessel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) during a resupply mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in June.
AFP Chief, General Romeo Brawner Jr. thanked partners from the Makati Medical Center Foundation on Monday, Nov. 4, for treating Seaman First Class Underwater Operator Jeffrey Facundo.
“I would like to [say] that the thumb of one of our soldiers has been restored with the help of our doctors, our partners from the Makati Medical Foundation. His thumb has been reattached and it’s now [functioning] well,” the military chief said.
The operation was completed “two months ago” free of charge, he noted.
After recovering from his injury, Facundo went back to serving in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Brawner said.
It was on June 17 when Facundo’s thumb was severed after a rigid hull inflatable boat of the China Coast Guard (CCG) intentionally rammed at a high speed a rubber boat of the AFP during a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.
Aside from the injury caused by the CCG, the Chinese also looted the Filipino troops’ rifles, personal cellphones, the motor and engines of the vessels, and destroyed communication equipment and other navigational equipment.
“We demanded that they pay P60 million for the damages and return the firearms. The compensation for the damage caused on our Navy personnel is not yet included in the P60 million,” Brawner said.
Five months since the violent altercation, China has not responded to the demands of the AFP, according to the AFP chief.
“There is still no response from China but we already discussed it with the DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] and their counterparts. We wrote a letter to the DFA so that they can relay our demands,” Brawner said.
Beijing earlier justified its coast guard's actions during the June 17 resupply mission, saying it was a response to the supposed intrusion of the Filipino troops into their territorial waters.
Ayungin Shoal is located some 105 nautical miles (194 kilometers) west of Palawan, within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, but China is claiming the area as part of its territory in the South China Sea (SCS) using the so-called 10-dash line.
A 2016 arbitral ruling has already invalidated China’s claims in the SCS in favor of the Philippines’ protest but the Asian military superpower ignores the decision and continues to flex its might in the contested waters.