By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
China has yet to respond to the Philippines’ demand for payment for the equipment damage and losses incurred from the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) harassment of Manila’s rotation and resupply mission at Ayungin Shoal in June.
“Wala pang response ‘yung China. Nagbigay tayo ng sulat sa DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) nang sa gayon ma-isama nila dun sa mga demands natin ito,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said in a media briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City Monday.
The AFP has demanded P60 million from Beijing after the CCG crew took at least seven rifles in cases, punctured two rigid-hulled inflatable boats, and damaged navigational and communications equipment during the June 17 harassment.
Eight Philippine Navy sailors were injured.
One of them, Seaman First Class Underwater Operator Jeffrey Facundo, lost his right thumb. It was later “restored” by military doctors and their partners from the Makati Medical Center Foundation.
“It now functions well, normally,” Brawner said. “He is now serving again in the WPS.”