‘We’ll fight for our territory, up to the last soldier’
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin
MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin rallied the troops yesterday to defend the country’s territory against Chinese incursions “up to the last soldier standing.”
Gazmin called on the troops to defend Ayungin Shoal in the Spratly Islands, stressing the area is within Philippine territory.
“Ayungin Shoal is clearly within our continental shelf. As far as we are concerned there is no dispute over the area. It is ours and there’s no reason to pull out our troops there... we will fight for what is ours,” Gazmin told yesterday’s defense and media regular monthly gathering.
Filipino troops on forward deployment in Ayungin Shoal in the Spratlys are staying put at their outpost despite the presence of Chinese vessels that have taken position in the area, Gazmin said.
He said the presence of Chinese ships in the area will not hamper the Philippine Navy’s routine re-supply and troop rotation within the country’s regime of islands in the hotly contested Spratlys.
Ayungin Shoal is even closer to mainland Palawan than Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, a Philippine territory that has been occupied and converted by China as its forward base and highly sophisticated naval facility in the West Philippine Sea.
The shoal is located 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan and forms part of the 200 nautical miles of the Philippine continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Last week, one of the Chinese warships in the area chased the utility boat of Kalayaan Island town in Pag-Asa carrying 147 civilian passengers while passing by Ayungin Shoal bound for Palawan.
Chinese warships have taken position in the vital supply route used by troops deployed in the country’s regime of islands, in what security officials described as a move to isolate the Filipino troops in the region.
“What they’ve done in Panatag Shoal, they’re doing the same strategy in Ayungin,” one senior security official said.
The official was referring to China’s now having virtual control of Panatag Shoal following last year’s tense naval standoff in the country’s rich-fishing ground located near mainland Zambales.
China is laying claim to almost the entire South China Sea as part of its territorial domain.
The official also warned the presence of Chinese warships in Ayungin is likely to hamper the military’s routine re-supply operations for its forces on forward deployment.
He said the continued presence of the Chinese intruders only ratcheted up the prevailing tension in the region.
Gazmin, however, said the Navy will continue performing its maritime territorial mandate in the area, including the sending of an unarmed navy supply ship to bring food provisions to the troops.
Gazmin said three Chinese ships and 10 fishing boats were spotted near Ayungin Shoal since last Wednesday.
“We saw a frigate. We saw CMS (Chinese maritime surveillance) maritime ships. We have pictures and we have sent them to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA),” Gazmin said.
“Based on (the photos) that I saw, there were two CMS and one frigate,” he added.
Gazmin said about 10 fishing boats or dinghies were also seen in the area, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
He described the deployment of a Chinese military frigate to the area as “unusual.”
“As far as we’re concerned, it (Ayungin) is not a disputed (area). It’s ours,” he stressed.
The government, however, has no immediate plans to deploy additional forces to defuse the tension.
“We have a case filed. We want a status quo on that,” Gazmin said.
On Tuesday, the DFA announced that the Philippines had filed a protest against the illegal deployment of Chinese vessels around Ayungin Shoal.
The protest, filed last May 10, complained about the provocative presence of two CMS and one warship in the area. – With Alexis Romero
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