PH committed to maintaining position at Ayungin Shoal —security official

The Philippines will continue resupply missions to soldiers stationed in a grounded warship off Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the South China Sea and China's attempts to foil them will be met with a response, a top security official said on Wednesday.

Jonathan Malaya, spokesperson of the National Security Council, said the Philippines remains committed to keep the BRP Sierra Madre which it deliberately grounded in 1999 to bolster its maritime claims to the disputed waters.

"Our commitment to maintain (BRP Sierra Madre) will always be there. Any attempt by China to interfere with resupply missions will be met by the Philippines in a fashion that protects our troops both doing resupply and those that are (on shoal)," Malaya told a maritime forum.

BRP Sierra Madre has been grounded since 1999 at Second Thomas Shoal, which Manila refers to as Ayungin Shoal, in the West Philippine Sea — the Philippine name for the South China Sea waters within the country’s boundaries.

The disputed shoal in the South China Sea has been a flashpoint of recent maritime run-ins between Manila and Beijing, including the Chinese coast guard's use of water cannons that have injured Filipino soldiers.

China insists that the shoal, which it calls Ren'ai Reef, is part of China's Nansha Islands or what the Philippines refers to as Spratly Islands.

China also repeatedly demanded the removal of the BRP Sierra Madre from the shoal, adding the Philippine government in the past promised to pull out the vessel — a claim denied by Filipino officials. 

Resupply missions by Philippine security forces to BRP Sierra Madre has been marred by harassment by Chinese Coast Guard, including water cannon attacks that have resulted in injuries to Filipino personnel and damage to vessels.

The Philippines has repeatedly protested China's actions in the West Philippine Sea.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with waters claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing has rejected.— Reuters with GMA Integrated News