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‘No intention to hurt, provoke Ph troops’
By J.Lo
“On the part of People’s Republic of China, their real intention was to prevent resupply mission… no reason to interpret it as armed attack because it was just intention of China to prevent resupply from being successful,” Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela said at News Forum, echoing Malacañang’s pronouncement on Friday that Chinese action did not constitute armed attack, hence not enough to trigger Mutual Defense Treaty with United States.
Chinese did not intend to harm Filipino coast guard and military personnel when they boarded their boats brandishing pick axes and sticks to prevent them from reaching BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal last week.
June 17 incident, drew condemnation from international community, was considered most violent move so far by Chinese to disrupt resupply mission for troops stationed on Sierra Madre.
Sought for details on the incident, Tarriela said China’s only intention was to block rotation and resupply mission for Sierra Madre.
“Main objective was not to have armed aggression but to prevent Philippine government from doing resupply,” he said.
He stressed that while previous news reports indicated CCG personnel were carrying knives, axes and other bladed weapons when they boarded Filipinos’ rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs), their purpose was to cause damage or destroy boats’ communications and navigation equipment and not to fight Filipinos.
“They were armed with axe, knives, bolo…my question is, did you see any of them in video using bolo, axe, knife against our soldiers…no…the only thing we saw from videos was, these were instruments used to cause damage to boats used by our soldiers,” Tarriela pointed out.
Nonetheless, Tarriela said government is sticking to its condemnation of “barbaric and inhumane behavior” of CCG towards its Philippine counterparts.
Armed Forces of the Philippines led June 17 resupply mission for Sierra Madre outpost manned by handful of Marines. CCG operation to stop resupply mission reportedly hurt at least eight Filipinos, according to initial reports, with one military personnel identified by AFP as Seaman First Class Jeffrey Facundo losing thumb.
Accident
Tarriela said Facundo’s injury was a result of the “high-speed ramming incident” involving Chinese and Filipino RHIBs, hence an “accident.”
Video footage from the AFP that Tarriela posted on X showed the CCG attackers outnumbering the Filipinos.
One of the CCG personnel was seen smashing a rod against a Filipino RHIB and using the same rod to pick a bag from the Philippine boat.
In another recording, another CCG personnel was seen flashing strobe lights at Filipinos, apparently to disorient them.
He said on X the CCG operation “prevented (the AFP and the PCG) from carrying out a routine and legitimate resupply mission to our troops onboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, highlights their flagrant violation of international law.”
“It is evident that their greedy ambition has driven them to resort to violence,” he added.
Despite the Chinese getting bolder, Tarriela maintained there is no need to ask for help from other countries in dealing with threats from Chinese forces during rotation and resupply missions.
“Right now we don’t see any reason to request any foreign actor to support our ordinary, routine mission to BRP Sierra Madre,” he said.
Tarriela echoed the declaration from Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin and Presidential Assistant on Maritime Concerns Andres Centino that the violent disruption of the June 17 resupply mission could not yet be considered an armed attack.
The 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the US was not even discussed during the National Maritime Council meeting spearheaded by the two officials after the June 17 incident.
Tarriela emphasized the PCG and the AFP were still capable of carrying out rotation and resupply missions, despite Chinese harassment, as such endeavors are “ordinary, legitimate and routine.”
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