Christmas came early for military personnel guarding the nine features occupied by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as they were given Noche Buena packages last week.
The AFP, through the Western Command (Wescom), conducted rotation of troops and reprovisioning of forces (RORE) using Philippine Navy (PN) vessels in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, Pag-asa (Thitu) Island, Rizal (Commodore) Reef, Patag (Flat) Island, Panata (Loaita Cay) Island, Kota (Loaita) Island, Lawak (Nanshan) Island, Parola (Northeast Cay) Island, and Likas (West York) Island from Dec. 3 to 14.
“The highlight of the RORE was the delivery of the Noche Buena packages [to] our troops. Their morale was high,” Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy (PN) spokesperson for WPS, said on Tuesday, Dec. 17.
The delivery of Christmas packages was the AFP’s way of expressing its gratitude to the troops defending the country’s stakes in the WPS despite Chinese intimidation.
“We perform our mandate without any fanfare over sea, land, or air. This is our duty to the public,” Trinidad said.
Two China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were monitored by the AFP while the RORE missions were ongoing in Ayungin Shoal but they did not interfere, according to Trinidad.
“Just in the vicinity doing nothing, no illegal actions, no coercive actions,” he said.
The situation was far different from the harassment experienced by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels, as well as Filipino fishermen, earlier this month.
The PCG previously reported that the CCG fired water cannon, sideswiped, and conducted dangerous maneuvers towards their and BFAR ships during a maritime patrol near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborouogh or Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal last Dec. 4.
Further, a suspected Chinese vessel was also accused of pointing a laser to two BFAR vessels near Hasa-Hasa (Half-Moon) Shoal on Dec. 2.
Prior to that, a Chinese military aircraft also hovered over Filipino fishing boats in Rozul Reef (Iroquois) Reef on Nov. 30 to harass fishermen in the area.
Trinidad said he was not surprised that China did not make any intimidating act during the latest RORE missions.
“We are prepared for any possibility. If it is successful, then it's just another day in the office,” he noted.
He also reiterated the national government’s appeal to the people to fish in the WPS.
“[D]o your normal day-to-day activities of fishing because there waters are ours. We are the ones who should benefit from the marine resources,” Trinidad stressed.
“The illegal actions being done to us are not on a daily basis. These are isolated [incidents] and usually in Bajo de Masinloc. Sometimes, we would monitor other areas but overall, it is peaceful. This area is ours. We have unimpeded access all over the expanse of the West Philippine Sea,” the admiral pointed out.