This photo taken on February 16, 2024, shows a rigid hull inflatable boat leaving a Chinese coast guard vessel near the China-controlled Scarborough Shoal, in disputed waters of the South China Sea. The Philippines on June 19, demanded the return of firearms and other equipment looted by the Chinese during the Philippines’ resupply mission. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan – China Coast Guard (CCG) should be made accountable for their “piracy” and should return the rifles and other equipment they “looted” from navy troops during their mission to a military outpost in the West Philippine Sea.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. made the bold demand on Wednesday as the military reels from the aftermath of CCG’s actions against navy personnel resupplying BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal last June 17 (Monday).
“For me this is piracy already, because they boarded our boats illegally [and] they got our equipment,” Brawner said in a press conference here at AFP’s Western Command (Wescom) headquarters.
READ: West Philippine Sea: Filipino sailors fought armed CCGs ‘with bare hands’
Brawner also said: “We are demanding that the Chinese return our rifles and our equipment, and we are also demanding from them to pay for the damages that they have caused.”
CCG rammed, towed, and even boarded Philippine vessels, a move which its spokesperson Gan Yu call “control measures” in line with its assertion of sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea — including most of the West Philippine Sea — despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that effectively dismisses its claims stemming from a case filed by Manila in 2013.
Brawner said the CCG personnel armed with bolos and knives boarded one of the navy’s two rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) where they seized firearms and equipment.
Asked about the specifics, AFP Western Command chief Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres said “seven firearms were looted and forcibly taken” which were “inside gun cases” and were not used during the resupply mission.
Torres also said the CCG’s destroyed the RHIB’s outboard motor, as well as “looting” navy personnel’s communication and navigational equipment and even the troops’ personal phones.
Aside from material damages, a navy personnel lost his right thumb as the bow of CCG’s RHIB rammed the part of the navy’s RHIB where the troop’s right hand was situated.
READ: PH Navy sailor loses thumb, others injured in CCG ramming incident
“Unfortunately, the soldier put his hand there, so his finger was hit because of the weight and the speed of the Chinese coast guard’s RHIB,” Torres said, partly in Filipino.
“Fortunately it was not his right hand,” Torres said.
Brawner said despite such aggressive actions of the CCG, the AFP “were able to restrain them from pursuing further the disruption of our operations” as he vowed to continue its resupply operations.
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
“Despite the fact that one of our personnel had an injury, we will continue our [resupply] operations,” he said.
For comprehensive coverage, in-depth analysis, and the latest updates on the West Philippine Sea issue, visit our special site here. Stay informed with articles, videos, and expert opinions.
