By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
The Philippine Navy (PN) on Tuesday downplayed the presence of a Chinese tugboat in Ayungin Shoal, saying it does not believe the foreign vessel is there to tow BRP Sierra Madre.
“While this is not a cause for alarm, it is not also a reason for us to be prepared for them to tow away BRP Sierra Madre,” PN Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing.
“It will take more than a tugboat to pull out BRP Sierra Madre,” he added.
Manned by a small contingent of Filipino soldiers, the World War II-era PN vessel has been grounded in Ayungin Shoal for over two decades, serving as a symbol of Philippine sovereignty in the area.
Trinidad said BRP Sierra Madre’s hull is now “strongly anchored on corals,” having been grounded in Ayungin Shoal since 1999.
He added that based on their assessment, the deployment of the Chinese tugboat, which belongs to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), to Ayungin Shoal seems to be more for the use of the Chinese should their ships run aground.
“Our assessment is that this is more for their own use in the event that they would need a tugboat to pull out any of their ships that would run aground in the shallow portion of Ayungin Shoal,” Trinidad said.
Aside from the PLAN tugboat, 13 Chinese maritime militia vessels and two China Coast Guard ships were spotted off Ayungin Shoal on Monday.
Also called the Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin Shoal is a submerged reef located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan and is within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines has consistently asserted its sovereign rights over Ayungin Shoal and the broader WPS, anchored on the 2016 Arbitral Award that invalidated China’s sweeping nine-dash line claim over the South China Sea.
