News
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[Just Saying] Invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty
SUMMARY Apparently alluding to the Ayungin shoal incident where China Coast Guard personnel attacked Filipino soldiers with knives and clubs to prevent them from delivering supplies, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. recently said: “We are not in the business to instigate wars.” Unfortunately, such statement – sounding so cliché – does not rise to the level of a declaration exuding national consternation. If at all, it…
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[Rappler’s Best] Divided we fall
SUMMARY In case you missed it, Vladimir Putin was in the neighborhood – driving a limousine with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, signing a military pact with the rogue state, and then flying to Hanoi, where he earned lavish praise from its communist leaders. That’s enough to rattle an already-rattled region that, early in June, played host to Putin’s nemesis, whose…
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View from Manila: ‘Twas a weekend of ‘misunderstanding’ over Ayungin Shoal
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – With a chuckle, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, chairperson of the newly-formed National Maritime Council, sought to shoot down talk of invoking the Philippines-US Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) over the Chinese coast guard’s harassment of a June 17 military resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). “This was probably a misunderstanding, or an…
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‘Not a misunderstanding’: PH changes tune on China’s Ayungin harassment
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Days after the newly-established National Maritime Council (NCM) called the Chinese harassment of a June 17 resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal a “misunderstanding” and recommended to “announce” future resupply missions, the Philippines has changed its tune, now describing Chinese actions in the West Philippine Sea as “deliberate.” “After our visit to our troops in Palawan yesterday,…
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[OPINION] Ayungin and why PH should respond as one team, one nation
SUMMARY The BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal is the symbol of our commitment to defend our sovereignty and protect our sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). On the downside, our approach to it also reflects the lack of coherence in the government’s strategy in the face of Beijing’s coercive tactics at sea. On the upside, it reflects…
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Philippines says China’s Ayungin harassment not ‘armed attack’
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines is asserting that there was “no reason” to interpret the actions of the Chinese coast guard on June 17 – which included ramming a Philippine government ship, brandishing machetes and knives, and taking disassembled rifles – as an “armed attack” on Philippine military personnel. “There is no reason na i-interpret natin ito na this is…
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Business groups condemn ‘harassment’ of PH troops after clash with China
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Some of the Philippines’ biggest business groups have broken their silence and condemned the “continued harassment” of military personnel, hinting that businesses are beginning to worry about the potential economic spillovers of rising tensions with China in the West Philippine Sea. “We deplore the continued harassment of the AFP (Armed forces of the Philippines), PCG (Philippine…
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After ‘brutal attack’ in Ayungin, PH maritime council wants resupply mission announced
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines’ newly-established National Maritime Council (NMC) announced Friday, June 21, that it has recommended to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. the “announcement” of resupply missions to Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint for tensions between Manila and Beijing in the South China Sea. “As a result of the meeting today, the Council agreed on policy recommendations for the…
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AFP says 4 Chinese Navy ships passed through Palawan
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed on Friday, June 21, that four vessels of the Chinese Navy or the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) were monitored passing through within 12 nautical miles off the coast of mainland Palawan on Wednesday, June 19. In a statement on Friday, AFP Public Affairs Office chief Colonel Xerxes…
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PCG: China’s dangerous maneuvers led to 12-hour rescue of injured Filipinos in Ayungin
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – It took the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) around 12 hours to rescue personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) who got wounded after the China Coast Guard (CCG) rammed a Philippine Navy vessel on Monday, June 17, in an attempt to disrupt Manila’s resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal. The incident saw CCG officers use…
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EU says new China coast guard rule adds to tensions, undermines UNCLOS
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – The European Union (EU) on Friday, June 21, criticized China’s new coast guard regulation, saying it “adds to tensions” and hinders the path to a “durable solution” of disputes in the South China Sea. The EU issued the statement days after the tensest and most violent incident between Chinese and Filipino personnel in the West Philippine…
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China protests PH’s extended continental shelf claim in West Philippine Sea
SUMMARY MANILA, Philippines – Beijing on Tuesday, June 18 (in New York) filed its opposition to the Philippines’ claim of an extended continental shelf (ECS) west of Palawan before the United Nations (UN) Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS). “China has indisputable sovereignty over Nanhai Zhudao and the adjacent waters, and enjoys sovereign rights and jurisdiction over…