The Philippines and China have agreed to exchange information during the former's resupply missions to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in the Ayungin Shoal in a bid to manage tension in the waters.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Tuesday, July 30, said it was not "prior notification," but an "exchange of information" that Manila and Beijing agreed to everytime there would be activities in the West Philippine Sea, a part of the bigger South China Sea that China claims in its entirety.
Manalo's clarification contradicted the Chinese Foreign Ministry's earlier claim that the Philippines would be willing to inform China ahead of time regarding its activities in its own waters.
"On the issue of notification, I think, the more accurate term is exchange of information, which is exactly what we did with China—both of us," Manalo emphasized in a press conference after the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., US State Department Secretary Antony Blinken and US Defense chief Lloyd Austin.
According to Manalo, the Philippines "will, of course, continue" with its rotation and resupply missions (RORE) to the grounded ship, as part of its right as having territorial sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
"And the fact that the supply was a relative success, I think, indicates that its something we are committed to pursue in succeeding resupply missions, provided of course, that China adheres to that understanding," he added.