PUERTO PRINCESA, Palawan — Some 60 hungry and dehydrated Philippine Coast guard personnel returned home to Palawan aboard BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701), ending a five-month stalemate with Chinese forces in Escoda Shoal (International name: Sabina Shoal).
But Philippine Coast Guard officials were quick to say the reason for the pullout was humanitarian rather than political.
BREAKING: BRP Teresa Magbanua returns to Palawan wirh hungy and dehydrated personnel.
Magbanua had been sent to Escoda Shoal some 140 kms away from Palawan to guard against alleged Chinese reclamation activities in the area.
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“While committed to her mission at Escoda Shoal, BRP Teresa Magbanua was compelled to return to port due to unfavorable weather conditions and depleted supplies of daily necessities,” PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said.
Sources say the ship’s crew subsisted on rice porridge (lugaw) for three weeks and had run out if food two days prior to their return.
The ship also had ran out of drinking water.
BRP Teresa Magbanua was sent to Escoda Shoal last April, which is located some 140 kilometers from Palawan and inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ), to guard against alleged reclamation activities by the Chinese.
He added that it was complicated by structural damages when the Magbanua sustained structural damages when China Coast Guard vessels deliberately rammed the vessel on August 31.
Sources say the ship’s crew subsisted on rice porridge (lugaw) for three weeks and had run out of food two days prior to their return.
The ship also reportedly ran out of drinking water.
The Coast Guard lauded the patriotism of the personnel on board BRP Teresa Magbanua.
“The PCG acknowledges the unwavering patriotism, unshakeable bravery, dedication, and unparalleled professionalism of our personnel on board BRP Teresa Magbanua, as they carried out and performed their mission in Escoda Shoal even in dangerous and adverse operational conditions,” Tarriela said.
China Coast Guard vessels shadowed BRP Teresa Magbanua when it pulled out from Escoda Shoal.
In August, some 40 China Coast Guard and Chinese maritime militia vessels blocked a resupply mission to the Magbanua, who was stationed to the disputed waters last April.
The PCG successfully airdropped supplies thereafter but has not conducted any resupply mission since.
On August 31, Chinese naval forces intentionally rammed BRP Teresa Magbanua causing damage to the ship.
Just last week, China called on the Philippines to withdraw its vessels from the shoal.
China had also accused the Philippines of semi-grounding the BRP Teresa Magbunua similar to what it says the country did with thje Philippine Navy’s BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, also located in the Philippines’ EEZ.
Tarriela said the Philippines remains committed to protect the shoal.
“The PCG is firmly committed and determined in protecting the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea, including in Escoda Shoal that lies well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award,” Tarriela said.—RF, GMA Integrated News
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