Brawner on WPS resupply missions: ‘We still can do it alone’

The Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue to conduct rotational and re-provisional (RORE) missions in the West Philippine Sea “unilaterally” until all the country’s resources are exhausted, military chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said on Thursday.

Brawner said there’s no need for the AFP to seek assistance from its counterparts in the United States as the Philippine military is still “very much capable of conducting” the resupply operations in the WPS.

US Indo-Pacific Command chief, Admiral Samuel Paparo, said Washington is prepared to offer its assistance whenever the Philippines will tap them to help in the RORE missions. 

“We stand ready. It's a matter of policy, post-consultation, and there's a range of options that are available,” Paparo assured. 

Brawner maintained the Philippines will push through the resupply operations “on its own capacity.”

“We're happy that the United States has given us a lot of options, including that of joining or escorting us for the RORE.  But as I said earlier, we are going to do the mission unilaterally—we will depend on ourselves first, and we will try to exhaust all the options first before asking for help,” he said. 

“After we exhaust all of the options and nothing works, then that's the time we can ask for help. What we want to imply is that—as long as we can, we will do it alone,” Brawner added. 

The AFP chief also noted the Philippine government’s whole-of-nation approaches in addressing the situation in the WPS, particularly the increasing security challenges posed by foreign countries. 

“This is not just the AFP, we are in cooperation, in collaboration with the Philippine Coast Guard, with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and, in fact, we have the whole-of-nation approach behind us,” Brawner said. 

Brawner maintained the Philippines would continue the resupply missions on its own until the military troops “are already hungry, they don't have any supplies anymore.”

“Because our resupply missions have been blocked and that they are on the verge of dying, then that's the time we're going to seek the help of the United States,” Brawner stressed when asked when the AFP will draw a line to seek help from its American counterparts in holding resupply mission. 

Brawner insisted the Philippines “still have a lot of options.”

Beijing has extensive claims over almost the entire South China Sea, encroaching on the Philippines' sovereignty in its exclusive economic zone in the WPS.