By Benjamin Cuaresma
MANILA — The Philippines has flatly rejected China’s claim that Manila had repeatedly promised to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal, declaring that no agreement exists requiring the country to tow away the Philippine naval vessel.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said the BRP Sierra Madre is a commissioned Philippine naval vessel permanently stationed at Ayungin Shoal.
The DFA stated this after the Chinese Embassy in Manila renewed its demand for the Philippines to remove the vessel, which Beijing calls Ren’ai Jiao, and accused Manila of repeatedly failing to honor an alleged previous commitment to tow it away.
The Philippine government categorically rejected that assertion.
The DFA also reaffirmed that Ayungin Shoal forms part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), as upheld by the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award.
It stressed that Ayungin is a low-tide elevation and therefore cannot generate maritime entitlements of its own. Under international law, the DFA said, it cannot be the subject of a sovereignty claim or be appropriated.
The department further accused China’s maritime law enforcement activities in Ayungin of infringing on Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction and violating international law.
Despite the continuing dispute, the DFA said Manila remains committed to dialogue, diplomacy and the peaceful settlement of disputes in accordance with international law.
At the same time, it said the Philippines would continue to exercise its rights responsibly and peacefully and undertake lawful activities to uphold its sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction.
The DFA also rejected what it described as China’s mischaracterization of the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, or Republic Act No. 12064.
The law, it said, is an exercise of the Philippines’ sovereign prerogative to define and establish its maritime zones consistent with UNCLOS and international law.
The DFA likewise stressed that the 2016 Arbitral Award is final and binding on both the Philippines and China, having been issued by an arbitral tribunal constituted under Annex VII of UNCLOS, to which both countries are parties.
For Manila, the position remains clear: there is no agreement requiring the removal of the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal, and the Philippines will continue to assert its rights under international law.
ia/xf
