The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) announced on Wednesday that its latest rotation and resupply (RORE) mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on 4 March was successfully completed without any untoward incident — marking the fifth consecutive unimpeded operation.
“This milestone highlights the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ unwavering commitment to ensuring continuous logistical and operational support to our personnel, despite the challenging security environment in the West Philippine Sea,” AFP Public Affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad told DAILY TRIBUNE in a Viber message.
Trinidad emphasized that the successful RORE mission reflects the AFP’s ongoing efforts to sustain logistical and operational support for Filipino troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in the contested shoal.
The Philippine military has confirmed that all five RORE missions — conducted on 27 July 2024; 27 September 2024; 15 November 2024; 24 January 2025; and 4 March 2025 — were carried out without interference.
Last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) announced that the Philippines and China had agreed on a provisional arrangement for RORE missions to the BRP Sierra Madre. The DFA clarified that “both sides concurred that the agreement will not prejudice each other’s positions in the South China Sea.”
“The Philippines and the People’s Republic of China have reached an understanding on the provisional arrangement for the resupply of daily necessities and rotation missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal,” the DFA stated in a release on 21 July 2024.
The agreement followed a series of consultations between the Philippines and China after constructive discussions at the 9th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) meeting on the South China Sea, held in Manila on 2 July 2024.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año previously emphasized that the Philippines did not agree to an arrangement that would de-escalate tensions in the WPS under China’s terms.
Año stressed that the primary goal of the provisional arrangement was solely to de-escalate tensions in the WPS, asserting that the BCM serves as a diplomatic channel to promote peaceful resolutions between the two nations — without compromising the Philippines’ sovereign rights over the WPS.