Marcos says no to published schedules of RORE

PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., has thumbed down a proposal to publish the resupply mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to the BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin Shoal.

Likewise, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. strongly noted that the June 17 incident in Ayungin Shoal between the Philippine troops and China Coast Guard, was not a misunderstanding. 

He also said that the Philippine government is not downplaying the incident.

”We see the latest incident in Ayungin not as a misunderstanding or an accident. It is a deliberate act of the Chinese officialdom to prevent us from completing our mission. After our visit to our troops in Palawan yesterday, where the President personally talked to the troops involved in the RORE, we have now come to a conclusion that it was not a misunderstanding or an accident,” Teodoro said.

”We are not downplaying the incident. It was an aggressive and illegal use of force,” he added.

Teodoro clarified that the Philippine government will continue to find peaceful solutions to the issue.

Meanwhile, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año stated that the Ayungin incident could still not be considered as an armed attack.

This is because the latter could be defined as the use of military force or an excessive use of force that could trigger collective self defense.

”Even doon sa Article 51 ng UN Charter, at saka sa MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty) hindi siya magpo-fall sa definition ng armed attack. But the PRC violates a lot of international and domestic laws including use of illegal force, violation of… Convention on Collision at Sea at SOLAS, International Convention on Safety of Life at Sea at saka Declaration of Conduct, dapat doon lahat ng member states should exercise self restraint and always opt the use of peaceful means to settle disputes,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that a Philippine Navy serviceman had been hurt by the collision between a Chinese ship and a Filipino vessel that was performing rotation and resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin noted that the incident was not an armed attack but a misunderstanding or accident.

They recommended that the RORE mission be published, a fact that the president flatly denied.