The national government is not keen on invoking the Philippines-United States’ Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) even after China’s aggressive actions during a recent resupply mission in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal led to the dismemberment of an elite Philippine Navy (PN) trooper’s finger.
This was the consensus reached by the National Maritime Council (NMC) which convened on Friday night, June 21, at Malacanang.
“[A]bout the invocation of the Mutual Defense Treaty, that has not been considered in our discussions,” Presidential Office for Maritime Concerns (POMC) Secretary Andres Centino said.
Calls for the invocation of the 1951 defense pact between Manila and Washington mount after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported that China Coast Guard (CCG) personnel rammed, towed, and illegally boarded the boats used by the Filipino troops and confiscated their firearms during the resupply mission which led to the dismemberment of the right thumb of a member of the Naval Special Operations Group (NSAVSOG).
The Chinese forces also used bladed weapons such as machetes, axes and knives to destroy AFP boats, as well as tear gas, sirens and blinding strobe lights to “intensify chaos and confusion,” “disrupt communication,” and “impair the vision and coordination” of the Filipino soldiers, the task force and the military added.
The MDT requires both countries to support each other in case of an armed attack from a third-party nation. However, what Chinese forces did to the NAVSOG troops during the June 17 resupply mission was not considered as an armed attack by the Palace but “probably a misunderstanding or an accident,” according to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore last month, Marcos laid out the “red line” in the country’s territorial dispute with China, saying that if a Filipino is killed in the West Philippine Sea, it would be “very close to what we define as an act of war.”
Still, Centino said the national government considers the recent Chinese aggression as “concerning” which is why President Marcos Jr. directed his concerned Cabinet secretaries to discuss the situation with him.
Marcos was “composed” upon learning the details of the hijacked resupply mission, according to Centino. It was bared that it took around 12 hours to rescue the NAVSOG, including the severely injured trooper. They were escorted to safe waters by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
“[We] came up with policy recommendations for the President's approval or consideration. We'll be awaiting for the guidance of the President as regard to the policy recommendations we submitted this afternoon,” said Centino, a former AFP chief.
The NMC earlier recommended to Marcos the continuation of resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal for troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre outpost despite the incident.
Centino said the morale of the troops remained high when current AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. visited the troops involved during the mission at the Western Command in Palawan last Wednesday, June 19.
“He [Brawner] was able to talk with those who were sent to conduct the mission, while the mission did not go as planned. However, we saw the morale of our troops are high and we even made sure that those of our soldiers were recognized and acknowledged for their actions, behavior in handling the incident that happened last Monday,” the retired general noted.