AFP: China yet to compensate PH sailor hurt in 2024 WPS incident

A Filipino sailor who lost a finger during a 2024 incident in the West Philippine Sea has yet to receive compensation from China, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said Tuesday.

“I think there is no compensation coming from China from that particular event,” AFP Public Affairs Office chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad said at a press briefing.

“As to the compensation for the equipment and the damage done to our assets, I think it was the AFP that submitted this particular requirement and again, it seems that there's still no response,” he added.

According to the AFP, the serviceman received support only from individuals, civil society groups and the private sector in the Philippines following the incident.

The AFP said it continues to coordinate with the appropriate government agencies to convey the Philippines’ position and compensation claims to China.

On June 17, 2024, Philippine Navy Seaman First Class Underwater Operator Jeffrey Facundo lost his right thumb after China vessels collided with Philippine boats while the AFP was conducting a rotation and resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.

Facundo’s severed thumb was later reattached.

The AFP subsequently demanded ₱60 million in damages from China for equipment damaged during the incident.

GMA News Online has reached out to the Chinese Embassy in Manila and will update this story once a response is received.

Tensions in the South China Sea persist as Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual shipborne commerce. The Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims in parts of the sea.

The Philippines refers to portions of the South China Sea within its maritime zones as the West Philippine Sea.

The West Philippine Sea covers maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago, including the Luzon Sea and waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.

In 2016, an arbitral tribunal in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines and rejected the legal basis for China's sweeping claims in the South China Sea.

China has refused to recognize the ruling. — MCG, GMA News