It was an attack by China, not just a misunderstanding or mere incident
It was an attack by China, not just a misunderstanding or mere incident
First word
SOMEDAY, the 17th of June 2024 could be marked as the day of rupture in Philippine-China relations. I won't go so far as to liken it to the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, which brought the United States into World War II and thereafter settled the outcome of the war.
The danger is that the date may be treated as just another day in the story of our bilateral relations, no more significant than another.
And we could lose grip and comprehension of what truly took place in the confrontation on that day between the China Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy resupplying the BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal. The Chinese tack was different this time because there were acts committed that constituted violations of international law. Ships carrying our personnel were boarded by members of the China Coast Guard in a flagrant violation of our sovereignty. They took our soldiers' guns and then absconded with some of their possessions, including cellular phones and bags. One Filipino soldier lost a finger or thumb in the attack.
The outrage and denunciations of China that have followed the incident leave no doubt that this is by far the most serious development that has transpired so far in our longstanding territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, or the part of it which we call the West Philippine Sea.
Strangely, Filipino officials depicted in sharply divergent ways the substance or import of what took place.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin flatly said that the incident fell short of an attack on the country, which would thus trigger the activation of the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty and imply their engagement in a war against a common enemy.
Senate hearing called
The Senate called a hearing on the June 17 incident to assess the facts of the matter and its impact on bilateral relations and implications for the territorial dispute.
At the hearing, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo testified on the views of their frontline departments.
Secretary Teodoro said the Philippine and Chinese militaries had yet to meet and discuss escalating tensions in the West Philippine Sea since he took over his post in June 2023 and that he didn't see both sides coming to the table at this point.
"No, because they (the Chinese) have the tendency of using the talks against us. They have not proven a level of good faith that would warrant our sensitive department to talk to them," Teodoro told a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
Secretary Manalo, in turn, said Manila had been working hard to bring Beijing back to the talks but that the latter's aggressive behavior in the WPS had been "inconsistent" with the stated policies of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The two officials made the remarks on the general state of Philippine-Chinese relations on the diplomatic and military fronts during the Senate inquiry.
The encounter was generally considered the most direct and hostile Chinese action yet against Filipino troops, with CCG personnel wielding bladed weapons and damaging Philippine Navy rubber boats. Officials said one Filipino sailor lost his thumb as a result of the CCG's "high-speed ramming" of his craft.
According to Teodoro, there have never been any military-to-military talks between the two countries regarding maritime incidents since he took the helm of the defense department.
He said no such meeting would happen "until some fundamental processes have been settled, with no recriminations."
He also said "no" when asked by Sen. Imee Marcos, who presided over the hearing as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, if it would be possible to follow the lead of the United States, which she said was now engaging in such talks with China.
"No, Ma'am, because they have not displayed a level of trust and confidence that would make myself confident enough to engage them on a fair and level-playing-field basis," Teodoro said.
Teodoro reiterated that the June 17 incident was a "deliberate, aggressive action by China and an illegal use of force."
"So it is not a misunderstanding or an accident. And that is for the record, Ma'am, under oath," he added, clarifying the terms used by Executive Secretary Bersamin in a statement issued from Malacañang on Friday. Teodoro said this was the position of the executive branch and that Bersamin's earlier statement was a "preliminary assessment" of the incident.
At the same hearing, Manalo explained that there was a bilateral consultation mechanism (BCM) already in place with regard to the South China Sea and that a preparatory meeting was held last week for possibly a meeting in early July "with our Chinese counterparts, specifically to discuss the recent incidents."
"Also to see whether we can arrive at some understanding ... some kind of confidence-building measures which could hopefully create a basis then for more serious discussions to see how we can address these other issues," Manalo added.
'Incomprehensible'
He said he wanted to see the result of the BCM discussions first before pursuing a possible "higher-level meeting."
According to Manalo, the Department of Foreign Affairs had denounced the Chinese actions on June 17 and underscored how it left a Filipino sailor injured and Philippine vessels damaged.
"We sternly communicated to our counterparts [in China that it was really incomprehensible how the delivery of basic necessities to our troops on the BRP Sierra Madre could be considered a provocation that would justify an increased level of Chinese actions. We believe their actions only intensified and escalated tensions, and certainly, it's something we should be concerned about," he stressed.
'Enough is enough'
Raffy Alunan spoke for many among our people when he wrote in his Times column on June 25: "The Chinese are gloating in their social media: 'The conflict at Ren'ai Reef (Ayungin Shoal) on June 17 was a humiliation for the Philippine monkeys. The monkeys are a regular army belonging to the Philippine Navy Special Operations Group, Navsog. Their Instagram account calls themselves the Philippine Navy SEALs. This time, facing the Chinese coast guard, that is, the Chinese police force, they actually had their boats breached, their guns confiscated, and their boats seized. And seals? They are not even sea dogs'."
Alunan capped his account with this line: "To be clear, it's the Chinese who are escalating the creeping invasion of our homeland, the occupation of our EEZ, and its attacks on our men and vessels with impunity because we choose to just stand by and show restraint.
We occupy the moral high ground to defend ourselves. Enough is enough."