Why a rusty Philippine Navy ship is grounded at Ayungin Shoal

Tension erupted last weekend when the Philippines accused China’s coast guard of blocking and firing water cannon at boats carrying supplies to a small number of Filipino marines stationed on a dilapidated Navy ship on Ayungin Shoal in the South China Sea.

Both the Philippines and China lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, with Manila referring to waters inside its 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone as the West Philippine Sea.

BRP Sierra Madre has been grounded on the Ayungin Shoal since 1999, which, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), was made to assert the country’s sovereign rights over the area following China’s ”illegal occupation” of Panganiban (Mischief) Reef in 1995. 

”Ayungin Shoal, as explicitly stated in the Award of the 2016 South China Sea Arbitration, is a low-tide elevation that is not subject to sovereignty claims or appropriation. It is part of the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines (105 nautical miles west of Palawan), over which the Philippines has sovereign rights and jurisdiction,” the DFA said in a statement on Tuesday. 

”The Philippines decided in 1999 to deploy a permanent station on Ayungin Shoal in response to China’s illegal occupation of Panganiban Reef in 1995. The deployment of a Philippine military station in its own areas of jurisdiction is an inherent right of the Philippines and does not violate any laws,” it added. 

”Moreover, the Philippine station on Ayungin Shoal was deployed in 1999, years ahead of the conclusion in 2002 of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and is therefore not a violation of the DOC.”

Former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the plan was to ground BRP Sierra Madre intentionally, but at the same time, it would serve as an outpost with troops given regular provisions.

China claimed that the Philippines had promised to remove the ship, which Manila immediately denied. 

“I’m not aware of any agreement that the Philippines should remove from its own territory its own ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, from the Ayungin Shoal,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a video posted on the Presidential Communications Office’s Facebook page on Wednesday. 

“And let me go further: if there does exist such an agreement, I rescind that agreement as of now,” he added. 

China has refused to recognize the 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated Beijing’s massive claims to nearly the entire South China Sea. The ruling was made following a case filed by the Philippines in 2013.

”The 2016 Arbitral Award is based on UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and affirms UNCLOS. It is final, legal, and binding. China, as a state party to UNCLOS, is well aware of that, and we call on China to faithfully adhere to its obligations and commitments as a state party to UNCLOS,” the DFA said.