A PHILIPPINE Coast Guard vessel has successfully evacuated a sick soldier from BRP Sierra Madre despite Chinese attempts to block the mercy mission.
“The Armed Forces conducted a medical evacuation of one of our troops on BRP Sierra Madre in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard. We had a soldier not feeling well who needed to be evacuated, and this was undertaken by the Philippine Coast Guard,” Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a media briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.
The soldier, who experienced persistent vomiting, was brought to Ricarte Hospital in Palawan.
During the mercy mission, two Chinese vessels emerged near Ayungin Shoal and encircled BRP Sierra Madre to block the medevac.
It was the third time the Chinese coast guard attempted to stop a Philippine medical mission in the area.
The Navy reported that the number of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea has slightly decreased, particularly People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels.
The Navy said it had monitored six PLAN vessels scattered in Ayungin Shoal, as well as one each in Bajo de Masinloc, Pag-asa Island, Panama Island and Escoda (Sabina) Shoal.
China Coast Guard 5901 — the world’s largest coast guard ship — has maintained its presence at Escoda Shoal, where it has been anchored since July 3.
“In the first place, its presence there is illegal. Wherever they go inside our exclusive economic zone, it is illegal,” Trinidad said.
“We are monitoring them because they should not be conducting any maritime research. They should not be doing anything that is detrimental to the security of the state,” he added.
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