Biggest Phl warship on patrol in Spratlys

By Jun Elias

Philippine Star, Friday, June 17, 2011

SAN FERNANDO, La Union, Philippines – The Philippine Navy is sending its biggest warship BRP Rajah Humabon for patrol operations around Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.

The deployment of the Humabon came after China dispatched its largest maritime patrol ship into the area in a move likely to raise tensions with neighbors staking rival claims to waters believed to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.

Chinese state media reports yesterday said the Haixun-31 left Wednesday and will stay in Singapore for two weeks of exchanges on search and rescue, anti-piracy and port management operations.

The ship is passing the Paracel and Spratly island groups at the heart of disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and other nation claimants around the region.

The Chinese media reports appeared to stress the deployment of its biggest patrol ship in the region.

“Our country’s biggest maritime patrol ship patrols the South China Sea,” said the headline in the official Beijing Daily.

Such type of ships has been accused of harassing foreign shipping in the South China Sea, including a US Navy surveillance vessel.

Philippine Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama gave assurance that no provocative actions would be made in the West Philippine Sea.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines have traded diplomatic barbs recently over maritime claims to the resource-rich island groups. Vietnam’s navy conducted live fire exercises on Monday after accusing Chinese boats of disrupting oil and gas exploration in its waters.

He said the Navy would implement pro-active defense measures all within its territorial waters in the area.

The Humabon, which has 68 crewmembers and eight officers, was docked Thursday at the Poro Point seaport here before sailing to the Scarborough Shoal.

“We will observe and check if there are security threats in the area and also to inspect if there are illegal poachers taking advantage in our jurisdiction,” said the ship’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Celestino Abalayan.

Abalayan was quick to clarify that their mission has nothing to do with the issue on the Spratlys. He said they were just on routine patrol.

Scarborough Shoal is situated in the West Philippine Sea, 198 kilometers west of Subic Bay with an estimated area of 150 square kilometers. The Shoal, which is rich in maritime resources, is also being claimed by China.

Pama also said the Navy, along with other military units committed to secure the country’s territorial waters in Palawan, will maintain its presence within the Kalayaan Island Group, part of the island group of the Spratlys occupied by the Philippines.

“We will strictly adhere to our rules of engagement and if a shooting war breaks out (among contending forces in the Spratlys) in the area, it will not start or come from us first,” Pama said.

Pama though stressed the mandate of the troops to stand down against possible armed hostilities.

“We are not to going start (the shooting) but it is also within our right to defend ourselves. We could not just scamper away or simply watch them (foreign forces) shooting at us,” Pama said.

Pama brushed aside suggestions that the Philippine Navy should also take an aggressive stance and take the cue from Vietnam conducting live fire exercises in the region.

“We are doing our own. We have our own strategy. We have our own (military) plan,” Pama said but declined to elaborate.

The Philippine Navy has taken the aggressive measure of dismantling the markers presumably placed by China on some of the islands and reefs that are within the country’s territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea.

Pama said removal of the markers would continue with the assistance of the Philippine Coast Guard.

“We are doing these operations if only to emphasize that these markers are within the country’s exclusive economic zone,” Pama said.

philstar.com

Mga dayong “marker” sa teritoryo ng Pinas, binaklas ng Navy

By JP Salarzon/AFP

Abante, Thursday, June 16, 2011

Simula pa noong Mayo ay pinagbabaklas na ng Philippine Navy ang mga “foreign” markers sa tatlong reefs at banks ng pinag-aagawang mga isla sa West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

Napag-alaman kay Philippine Navy spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay, ginawa nila ang pagbabaklas sa mga “naligaw” na markers ng mga dayuhan noon pang nakaraang buwan bago protestahin ang umiinit ngayong “illegal” na pagtawid diumano ng Chinese Navy sa Filipino territorial waters.

“They were foreign markers because they were not installed by our military or our government. So we dismantled them because they are part of Philippine territory,” ani Tonsay sa panayam ng Agence France Presse.

Kamakailan lang ay inakusahan ng Pilipinas ang China ng pagtatayo ng mga poste at ng isang ‘buoy’ sa katubigang inaangkin ng Pilipinas pero hindi naman matiyak ni Tonsay kung mga Chinese markers ang pinagbabaklas nila.

“They did not have a ‘Made in China’ label or anything,” anang koronel na nagsabing mga numero lang ang nakasulat sa tinibag nilang mga “foreign” markers.

Samantala, tiniyak naman ng Philippine Navy na hindi sila tutulad sa Vietnam, isa ring claimant sa Spratlys, na nagsagawa ng “live fire” exercise sa pinag-aagawang teritoryo.

“We are not governed by what other countries do. We have our own. Just because Vietnam did it, hence we will also do it, no. We have our own strategy. Such case is situational aside from the fact that we have our own programs on the things we are doing,” ani Navy chief Admiral Alexander Pama.

Noong araw ng Martes, nagsagawa ang Vietnam ng live fire exercises sa loob ng kanilang inaaring isla sa Spratlys sa gitna ng umiinit na isyu na posibleng madulot ng pagsiklab ng labanan ng mga bansang nakikipag-agawan sa mga isla, kasama ang China.

Kaugnay nito, kinumpirma ni Pama na tinanggal na ng Navy ang mga istrukturang inilagay ng China sa loob ng KIG (Kalayaan Island Group), tawag ng Pilipinas sa inaangking parte ng Spratlys.

“Lumabas naman na ata e ‘yung mga tinanggal natin, pero gusto ko muna na magpaalam sa taas para wala tayong masagasaan,” ani Pama, hinggil sa pag­lalabas ng mga nakuhang litrato ng mga istruktura.

abante.com.ph

Philippine Navy removes foreign markers

Tempo, Thursday, June 16,2011

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines said its Navy had removed “‘foreign”’ markers installed on three reefs and banks in disputed areas of the West Philippine Sea.

The removal of the wooden posts took place in May, just before the government formally protested over alleged incursions by the Chinese navy in Filipino territorial waters, Philippine Navy spokesperson Lieutenant- Colonel Omar Tonsay said. “They were foreign markers because they were not installed by our military or our government. So we dismantled them because they are part of Philippine territory,” Tonsay told AFP.

The Philippine government has recently accused China of putting posts and a buoy in Filipino- claimed waters, but Tonsay said the Navy had not been able to determine who placed the wooden posts that it removed in May.

“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 Boxall Reef in the Spratly Islands, and in the nearby Amy Douglas Bank and Reed Bank, all of which are in waters of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines and China.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam have overlapping territorial claims to strategically vital and reputedly resource-rich areas of the South China Sea.

Tensions over the long-running dispute have escalated in recent months amid assertions by the Philippines and Vietnam that China has become increasingly aggressive in staking its claims to the areas.

The Philippines this month accused China of undermining peace and stability in Asia by allegedly sending naval vessels near Reed Bank to intimidate rival claimants, and of installing posts and a buoy in nearby areas.

The Philippines also protested over incidents in February to May, accusing the Chinese navy of opening fire on Filipino fishermen and intimidating a Philippine oil exploration ship.

Raising tensions further, President Aquino said on Tuesday that his country needed help from longtime ally the United States in its dispute with China. Chinese embassy spokespersons in Manila did not answer telephone calls on Wednesday about the foreign markers.

A spokesperson at the Department of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on the naval action.

tempo.com.ph

Naval Forces Western Mindanao joins 6-nation exercise

Mindanews, Thursday, June 16, 2011

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/15 June) – The Naval Forces Western Mindanao is participating in the 10-day annual Southeast Asia Cooperation and Training (SEACAT) that kicked off Tuesday, June 14.

A Philippine Navy official said the unit forms part of the Philippine contingent that joined the navy forces from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the United States Navy in the combined exercise aimed to enhance interoperability and share best practices.

Codenamed SEACAT 2011, it is being held in Malacca Strait, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea and will end on Friday, June 24.

SEACAT 2011 exercise director Navy Captain Sebastian Pan said the other Philippine Navy contingents are from the Naval Forces West and Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao.

Pan said they will participate together with the U.S. Navy in a scenario-driven fleet training exercise against terrorism, transnational crimes and other maritime threats which focuses on real time information exchange, coordinated surveillance operations, tracking, and eventual conduct of Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) to the maritime Contact of Interest (COI).

“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 in a statement.

He said three ships from the NFWM, NFEM and NFW commands are participating in this year’s SEACAT 2011 exercise.

As practiced in the yearly SEACAT, Pan said that several ships from each participating Southeast Asian navy will join the training with the one U.S. Navy ship, USS Safeguard, designated as the COI for the participating Southeast Asian navies.

He said one maritime interdiction operations scenario with boarding opportunity will be conducted at the Sulu and Mindanao Seas.

He said the SEACAT exercise is a yearly combined exercise conducted at vital sea lanes in Southeast Asia to ensure control of vital sea lanes from terrorists, poachers, and transnational lawless elements.

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

With this exercise, Pan said the Philippine Navy will be able to enhance regional coordination, information sharing, and combined inter-operability capability with participating navies in the region, test its personnel and naval assets operational readiness and ultimately, improve the defense capability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

mindanews.com