A military official explained that the Philippines’ operational requirement would determine the number of boats to be used in resupplying the troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippines Sea.

“You know the operational requirement dictates the number of boats that we will use, [and] for this particular mission Unaizah May 4 is enough is carry all the personnel and supplies and ‘yun ang ginawa natin (it’s what we did),  that’s why we only used Unaizah May 4,” Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, the chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Western Command. 

Carlos also said the country does not need to ask permission from China when operating within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. 

“We all have the rights in there. Whatever necessities we need to bring at the LS57, we don’t have to ask permission from them (China),” he said.

Unaizah May 4, is an AFP-chartered supply boat made of light wooden material capable of reaching a low-tide elevation shore like Ayungin. 

AFP chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. earlier said the military would be making changes in its resupply mission in Ayungin, but, he did not divulge the entire plan for security reasons.  

China previously set its terms that it would only allow one Philippine supply boat to reach BRP Sierra Madre every resupply mission. 

However, China seemed to be breaking its own terms when it aggressively blocked UM4, the Philippines’ only supply boat used during the AFP’s rotational and resupply mission last 23 March.

During this RORE mission, two China Coast Guard vessels blasted high-pressure water cannons at the UM4, resulting in the severe destruction of the boat and serious injuries of three navy personnel onboard.

China defended its aggressiveness on that day by accusing the Philippines of intruding on its territory, claiming indisputable sovereignty over the Ayungin, located 617.389 nautical miles off its mainland.  

Ayungin is situated within the WPS and is only 106.3 nautical miles away from Palawan.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) states that sovereignty is considered beyond the 200 NM maximum maritime entitlement for an EEZ. 

The international arbitration panel concluded that China’s position over the Ayungin shoal had no basis under international law. But China remained assertive of the territorial waters, hence, subjecting the Philippine ships to harassment and bullying. 

Filipinos do not yield

Over the weekend, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will implement countermeasures against China’s “deliberate, and reasonable in the face of the open, unabating, and illegal, coercive, aggressive, and dangerous attacks” against the country’s vessels in the WPS.

“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends but we will not be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience. Filipinos do not yield,” said Marcos. 

In a separate statement, Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. lamented the Chinese government’s “inability”  for "open, transparent, and legal negotiations."

“Their repertoire consists only of patronizing and, failing that, intimidating smaller countries,” he said. 

Teodoro said China’s “illegal and uncivilized activities” in the WPS “reflect their isolation from the rest of the world.”

“The world has seen and knows that the Filipino people are not aggressors. We will never seek a fight or trouble. Neither will we be cowed into silence, submission, or subservience. We do not yield. We are Filipinos,” he further stressed.