Navy removes China marker, invokes 'active defense'

GMA news, Thursday, June 16, 2011

After dismantling a China marker at a disputed reef in the West Philippine Seas, the Philippine Navy on Thursday vowed to maintain its "active defense" in the area to prevent other parties from placing another marker there.

Navy flag officer-in-command Rear Admiral Alexander Pama said they have a mandate to protect the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

On Wednesday, the military said it removed a marker found at the Boxall Reef, which is about 125 nautical miles from Palawan's western shoreline.

“Tuluy-tuloy sa pag-iikot at pagpapatrolya ang Navy, kasama ang Philippine Coast Guard... I-emphasize natin ito sa loob ng ating exclusive economic zone. Base sa mandato namin ating pinapangalagaan ang lugar na sinasabi na atin at alinsunod doon sa EEZ natin," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.

He also noted Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. had ordered a policy of “active defense" where the Philippines will not trigger tension while defending its territory.

Pama said this means that while the Philippines will not start any conflict, neither will it run away if it is “attacked."

“We strictly follow the Chief of Staff's guideline na active defense lang. Importanteng bagay na hindi tayo mag-uumpisa pero karapatan ng lahat ng tao yan, self-defense. Pag tayo pinutukan, hindi pwedeng manonood lang o tumakbo," he said.

For now, he said the military’s Western Command will continue to have Air Force and Navy assets there maintain their vigilance against attempts to put back the markers.

The Philippines is disputing the Spratly Islands with China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

Recently, the Philippines had exchanged strong words with China following recent encounters between Philippine and Chinese forces in the area.

Pama said the markers they dismantled consisted basically of a steel bar with graduated markings.

GMA news

Naval drill magpapatibay s arelasyon ng mga bansang umaangkin sa Sparatlys

Taliba, Thursday, June 16, 2011

NANINIWALA ang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na lalo pang lalakas ang ugnayan ng mga bansang sangkot sa West Philippine sea issue sa nagpapatuloy na combinednaval exercise sa bahagi ng Malacca strait, Sulu Sea at Celebes Sea.

Sa pahayag ni Exercise Director, Philippine Navy Captain Sebastian Pan, target umano ng 10-day Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) ay ang pagpapatibay ng regional coordination, information sharing at inter-operability capability ng mga participating navies sa rehiyon. Kabilang sa mga kalahok sa ensayo na nagsimula kahapon ay Pilipinas, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia at Thailand.

Ang mga nabanggit na bansa ay kabilang sa mga claimant-states sa pinag-aagawang teritoryo sa Spratly Islands.

Sa panig ng Pilipinas, kabilang sa mga kalahok sa training ay ang tatlong barko mula sa Naval Forces West (NFW) Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM) at Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM).

"This activity will involve surface, air, and special operations units in the conduct of surveillance, tracking nd boarding of the center of interest from the different participating navies within their respective maritime territories," pahayag ng opisyal.

Maliban sa nabanggit na mga bansa, kalahok din sa taunang naval training ang puwersang ng United States Navy.

Philippines pulls Spratlys ‘foreign’ posts

By Donna Pazzibugan

Philippine Daily Inquirer, Thursday, June 16,2011

The Philippine Navy removed “foreign” markers installed on three reefs and banks in disputed isles off Palawan in May and foiled an attempt last week to reestablish them, officials said on Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay on Wednesday told Agence France-Presse that the removal of the wooden posts last month took place just before Manila protested the alleged incursions by the Chinese Navy into Philippine waters.

“These were foreign markers because they were not installed by our military or our government. So we dismantled the markers because they are part of Philippine territory,” the Philippine Navy spokesperson told the French news agency.

Manila has accused Beijing of putting posts and a buoy in Philippine waters, but Tonsay said the Navy had not been able to determine who placed the wooden posts.

“They did not have a ‘Made in China’ label or anything,” Tonsay said, adding the posts had only numbers on them.

The markers were on Iroquois (Amy Douglas) Bank, Recto (Reed) Bank and Boxall Reef, all in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), he said.

“On June 5 again it was reported that our local fishermen found another marker,” said Commodore Edgardo Tamayo, commander of the Naval Forces West based in Palawan.

“I directed our patrol boat to check on the veracity of the report, and that was in Boxall Reef, only about 20 nautical miles [37 kilometers] away from Ayungin Shoal,” Tamayo said in a phone interview.

He said his forces had dismantled the marker on the reef, a Philippine Navy-occupied islet within the chain of islands that the Philippines collectively calls the Kalayaan Island Group. It is located 194 km (105 nautical miles) from mainland Palawan.

Defensive position

In Puerto Princesa City, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban told the Palawan provincial board that the Armed Forces of the Philippines would take a defensive position if challenged by China.

“We will fire only when fired upon. That is our rule of engagement,” the Western Command chief said on Tuesday, reacting to questions from board members about China’s reported plan to explore for oil in the region.

“In terms of military capability, we are very limited that is why we employ diplomatic means to resolve issues with China,” Sabban later told reporters.

The discovery of the marker in Boxall Reef came in the heels of the discovery on May 24 of steel posts, a buoy and other building materials laid out by Chinese vessels in Iroquois Reef, which the Philippines claims to be within its 370-km (200-nautical-mile) exclusive economic zone.

Manila filed a diplomatic protest over the Iroquois Reef incident, saying China “aggressively violated” the 2002 Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.

The 2002 nonbinding agreement signed by member states of the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and China urges the claimant states to exercise restraint and avoid activities that might escalate tension, such as construction of military facilities and holding war games.

The Spratlys is claimed in whole or in part by six nations—the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei.

No markings

Tamayo said Filipino fishermen saw activity in Boxall Reef during the first few days of June and then reported to the Navy on June 5 that they had spotted a marker.

“Our floating assets saw and confirmed the marker, the same marker that was found at Amy Douglas. That marker has the same description,” he said.

He said the marker was about 10 feet long and about four inches wide and likened it to a flat bar.

“This was confirmed to be found at the Boxall Reef,” he said, adding the marker was dismantled on June 6.

“We pulled out the marker to serve as evidence to prove that we saw that in that place,” Tamayo added.

“We did not see any markings that will tell us (it came from the) Chinese, (nor) any Chinese characters. So I surmise it is suspected from foreign origin. According to our informants, they suspect it to be Chinese because at that time they witnessed while it is being laid out,” he said.

Code of conduct

Tamayo said the Philippine Navy subscribed to the intention of the Declaration of Conduct to avoid any conflict.

“Personally I should say that following the intention of the conduct, supposedly we should be on status quo, meaning to say that we avoid putting up any particular structures like markers that would raise tension or raise conflict. That was the intention of the code of conduct.

A spokesperson at the Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the naval action, but Malacañang was heaving a sigh of relief following a statement by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei that Beijing did not intend to use force in the Spratlys controversy.

“It is something that we will certainly welcome so at least we have in the region an assurance that no use of force will be necessary to resolve the situation here,” presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda told reporters.

newsinfo.inquirer.net

US leads Asean war games in Sulu, Palawan

By Donna Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A US-led naval exercise in the Sulu Sea involving the Philippines and five other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) began on Tuesday.

In the next 10 days, combined naval units from the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the United States will be in the Sulu Sea, Malacca Strait and Celebes Sea.

The naval exercise will be followed by another naval training exercise between the Philippines and the United States in the Sulu Sea. The Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (Carat) exercise from June 28 to July 8 will be held in the waters east of Palawan.

Dubbed the Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (Seacat), the annual maritime exercise initiated by the United States covers training against terrorism, transnational crimes “and other maritime threats.”

A Philippine Navy spokesperson said the naval exercises had been arranged before fresh tension broke out between the Philippines and China over the disputed Spratly islands.

Asset reinforcement

The exercise coincided with a visit by Philippine Navy chief Vice Adm. Alexander Pama at the Naval Forces West in Palawan, his first since assuming office in January. It came as the military was reinforcing its naval and air assets in the West Philippine Sea.

The Navy spokesperson, Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay, said Pama toured Naval Station Apolinario Jalandoon, headquarters of the Naval Forces West, as well as the Oyster Bay detachment at Naval Station Carlito Cunanan in Ulugan Point, Macarascas, Puerto Princesa City.

Pama also paid a courtesy call on the Armed Forces of the Philippines Western Command commander, Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, who is based in Puerto Princesa.

The BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, acquired from the US Coast Guard and due to arrive in August, will be stationed at Naval Station Carlito Cunanan, 260 kilometers (140 nautical miles) from Recto Bank (Reed Bank) facing the West Philippine Sea.

Capt. Sebastian Pan, Philippine exercise director, said three Philippine Navy ships would participate in this year’s Seacat exercise. The USS Safeguard, a rescue and salvage ship, was designated as “contact of interest,” or COI.

Special operations

“This activity will involve surface, air, and special operations units in the conduct of surveillance, tracking, and boarding of the COI from the different participating navies within their respective maritime territories,” Pan said.

He said maritime interdiction operations with boarding opportunity would be conducted in the Sulu and Mindanao Seas.

The Coast Watch stations of the participating naval forces will be utilized to exercise their capabilities in surveillance, tracking, communications and operations.

The annual Seacat exercise is conducted to protect vital sea lanes in Southeast Asia from terrorists, poachers and transnational lawless elements.

The exercise aims to promote “regional coordination, information sharing and interoperability in a multilateral environment.”

Venues are determined in advance in planning sessions with participating navies.

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