By JEAN MANGALUZ, GMA News
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The Philippines does not need permission from anyone for the conduct of its resupply missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Friday.
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela refuted claims from the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), saying that on October 21, the Philippines was able to deliver supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre "with approval from the Chinese side."
"The Philippines did not ask for, and does not need, anyone's 'approval' to resupply our own troops aboard BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. The October 21 mission was a sovereign act of the Philippine government inside our own exclusive economic zone," Tarriela said in a Facebook post.
"Ayungin Shoal lies about 105 nautical miles from Palawan and more than 500 nautical miles from the nearest coast of China. No country asks permission from a neighbor that far away to feed its own soldiers in its own waters," Tarriela said.
On Thursday, the Chinese Embassy in Manila posted on Facebook a statement from CCG spokesperson Jiang Lue, which claimed that they supervised the resupply mission.
"The Philippines delivered living necessities to its ship illegally 'grounded' at China's Ren'ai Jiao. The China Coast Guard inquired and verified the Philippine vessel conducting the delivery, and monitored the whole process," the statement read.
Tarriela also dismissed the name, "Ren'ai Jiao," saying it only exists in Beijing's maps.
"The 2016 Arbitral Award, final and binding on China, ruled that Ayungin Shoal is a low-tide elevation forming part of the Philippine continental shelf and EEZ (exclusive economic zone), where China has no entitlement whatsoever," Tarriela said.
China's state-owned Global Times news agency had also posted a video that supposedly documented that Filipino vessels sought permission from the Chinese side to board the vessel. The video showed what appeared to be a Chinese official on China Coast Guard Ship 5306 supposedly speaking to the Filipino crew on the Lapu-Lapu 1.
GMA News Online has reached out to Tarriela for a comment on the Global Times' report.
Diplomatic tensions between Beijing and Manila flared anew after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Jing Quan said China would easily win if it used force in the West Philippine Sea. This prompted many Filipino officials to ask President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to seek Jing's recall or to declare him persona non grata. — VDV, GMA News