PAF plane delivers supplies for soldiers, residents in Pagasa

MANILA, Philippines - An Air Force C-130 cargo plane arrived on Pagasa Island last Wednesday carrying supplies and provisions for the tiny municipality’s residents and small contingent of soldiers.

The arrival of the Hercules aircraft came at a time when Filipino fishermen were complaining about being harassed by Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea, specifically at the Quirino (Jackson) Atoll near Palawan.

The arrival also coincided with reports that China has installed anti-aircraft defenses around its massive man-made island near Zamora (Subi) Reef.

It was not the first time that a C-130 plane landed on the island, but it was smaller aircraft like the Islander that usually delivered supplies and provisions to the tiny municipality’s small contingent of soldiers and residents.

Zamora Reef is just 25 kilometers from Pagasa Island. Philippine military and civilian aircraft usually fly near the area on their way to Rancudo Airfield.

“The plane just unloaded the necessary provisions and fuel needed by the islanders and the soldiers and left,” a source said.

It was not immediately known if the Chinese navy questioned or challenged the PAF cargo plane when the latter flew over the area.

At this time of the year, the waters in the West Philipipne Sea and the South China Sea are very rough and dangerous to vessels.

Other Philippine outposts on eight other occupied territories in the disputed region usually get their supplies through airdrop.

China is claiming almost the entire South China Sea and the West Philippine and is becoming more aggressive in asserting its claim.

Last week, several Chinese vessels occupied Quirino Atoll and barred Filipino fishermen from the area.

No more ships

The Philippine military denied the report even as the Chinese foreign ministry admitted sending vessels to the area but only to remove and tow a grounded Filipino fishing boat. The ships left after completing their task, the foreign ministry said.

Despite having withdrawn the ships from the atoll, Beijing reiterated its claim of indisputable sovereignty over the area, which is between the Philippine-occupied Lawak Island and China-occupied Panganiban (Mischief) Reef.

The Philippine Coast Guard, for its part, said it is still clueless about the ownership of the grounded fishing boat.

PCG spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said that they are still trying to determine who among the Manila-based fishing firms had abandoned a boat on Quirino Atoll.

Mindoro-based fishermen said the ill-fated fishing vessel was owned and operated by a fishing company based in Manila.

They said the fishing boat got stuck in the atoll in November last year during bad weather.

Reacting to the Quirino Atoll issue, the camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay maintained that the issue of the country’s sovereignty is non-negotiable.

But Rico Quicho, campaign spokesman for the United Nationalist Alliance, said Binay is open to holding multilateral talks with Beijing over a possible joint exploration of the disputed territories.

“First of all, the (issue of) sovereignty is non-negotiable,” he told reporters in Filipino. “We will fight for what is rightfully ours.”

He clarified that the negotiations would cover economic matters, saying they should be separate from political issues.

Earlier, his runningmate Sen. Gregorio Honasan II said it is time to test the country’s bilateral ties with the United States and other countries.

Another presidential candidate Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, for her part, said that under her administration, the government would take a more proactive approach in resolving the West Philippine Sea dispute.

“The government seems to have grown complacent on the issue of the West Philippine Sea dispute, confident that the international tribunal now hearing the memorial it has filed against China will rule in its favor,” Santiago said.

“It is not true at all that the arbitral tribunal may decide on the Philippine side in the face of China’s excepting itself from the application of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Articles 297 and 298,” she added.

“The dispute with China requires a second level of diplomacy as the other party takes keen interest in bilateral negotiation bordering on conciliation, relying on the principles set forth in the UNCLOS, Part XV, Section 1,” she said.

Santiago was given a seat as judge in the International Court of Justice in 2011 but resigned three years later for health reasons.

The senator also hit the Aquino administration for relying heavily on US support against Chinese expansionism, noting that both military giants have interests in controlling the West Philippine Sea. Santiago said her administration would not depend solely on US support to resolve a dispute with a neighboring country. “If elected, I will negotiate with China together with other Asian countries,” she added. 

The senator, who also chairs the Senate foreign relations committee and the legislative oversight committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement, fought in January to have the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement with US voided if not ratified by the chamber.

The Supreme Court has since ruled on the validity of the EDCA, which it considered an executive agreement implementing the VFA.  – With Janvic Mateo, Rainier Allan Ronda