Sink or swim
Oped Template Edgard A. Arevalo
ON June 17, 2024, while the nation observed Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) embarked on yet another rotation and resupply (RoRe) mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal. It was only the next day that news about "Philippine and Chinese vessels colliding in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)" broke out. We all thought it was just one of those illegal and hostile acts by the China Coast Guard (CCG) and China maritime militia ships that Filipinos have gotten accustomed to learning about whenever there are RoRe missions. But we were all terribly mistaken.
By June 19, as the country commemorated the 163rd birth anniversary of our national hero Dr. Jose Rizal, we were all enraged to learn from media reports that eight members of the Naval Special Operations Command (Navsocom) were wounded, one severely so; their rigid-hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) illegally boarded and searched; and their high-powered firearms and cellular phones seized. Video footage vividly showed how Communist Chinese agents — wielding knives, bolo, spears and axes — on board their vessels swarmed and attacked our troops, stabbed the RHIBs, broke the windshields, destroyed the outboard motors using sledgehammers, and towed the vessels away.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. referred to the CCG's "coercive, aggressive and barbaric" actions as piracy after "[t]hey boarded [our vessels] illegally [and] got our equipment," saying: "We (AFP) cannot let them just do that and take our [assets]."
Meanwhile, CG Commo. Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesman for the WPS, branded the CCG's harassment and its efforts to foil the medical evacuation of the soldier who lost his thumb in the assault as "[b]arbaric and inhumane behavior x x x [that] has no place in our society."
Despite many Filipinos considering the June 17 incident as an armed assault, Executive Secretary and National Maritime Council Chairman Lucas Bersamin said on Friday that the incident "was probably a misunderstanding or an accident," adding that the government "[i]s not yet ready to classify this [Chinese aggression] as an 'armed attack.'" He also said the council recommended some policies to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to ensure safety in the WPS, including announcing routine and regularly scheduled RoRe missions to Ayungin. A recommendation that is a "wise decision for the President to accept."
No doubt, the June 17 incident demonstrated the most daring, "coercive, aggressive and barbaric" actions of the CCG. The bullies were emboldened by our restrained behavior. As a law-abiding nation, we allowed them to do what they were doing without a bloodied nose. Or they were probably insulted by our resilience to their abusive conduct as we assert our maritime and sovereign rights.
While the nation draws strength and popular support from our leaning toward adherence to the law and resorting to pacific means of resolving disputes, Communist Chinese agents found that to be our vulnerability. And their rogue nation exploited that "weakness" to the hilt.
From the precariousness of the situation our soldiers found themselves in, it is unfortunate as it becomes apparent that the CCG's course of action was unforeseen. That is, from the intentional ramming and use of powerful water cannons on smaller Philippine civilian vessels and directing blinding lasers to PCG crew, the CCG now resorted to a mix of physical assault on our vessels and psychological intimidation of our troops. Outnumbering Navy RHIBs at about eight to one, CCG ships — with sirens blaring and blinkers flashing — surrounded the Philippine vessels. And with menacing and numerically superior CCG crews swarming and overwhelming our troops, they destroyed and immobilized our RHIBs and seized their high-powered firearms and personal effects.
That the sailors carried with them "disassembled" high-powered firearms is unusual. But it is a blessing in disguise that the firearms were not "loaded and locked" because God knows what could have happened if the weapons were not so.
It bears stressing that although pundits say convening the national security cluster was like Johnny came lately, many of us will agree that it is never too late for it. The government has to review the overarching diplomatic, political and economic end-state in securing our maritime rights and maritime entitlements in our economic exclusive zone, where the oil and gas-rich Recto Bank is located. And identify which among the vetted courses of action will best attain the said end-state.
We should continue to "push back" and assert our sovereignty and sovereign rights. We should pursue our RoRe operations, as it is government's obligation to sustain our troops in the BRP Sierra Madre and the other WPS outposts we man, the AFP being the constitutionally designated protector of the Filipino people and the state. We have invested so much and sacrificed a lot in terms of national pride and dignity just to abide by the same international law that China tramples upon and violates with impunity. But the RoRe missions are best done by civilian agencies like the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
But it is clear as day: we are left to our own devices.
Help from the United States is contingent upon two things concurring: that our government deem the recent incident as warranting the invocation of the Mutual Defense Treaty and that the US would actually deploy its troops, even with the Authority to Deploy Forces from their Congress to follow. And Bersamin has already declared that the incident was probably a "misunderstanding or an accident," and all that they saw were "bolo and axe, nothing beyond that."
Given the humiliation that the Navsocom personnel have experienced following that "misunderstanding or accident," it would be ill-advised to place any soldier in such a similar situation again. He might just be ready to offer that supreme sacrifice in defense of his — and the nation's — honor and reputation.
X: @atty_edarevalo