'China used illegal force to stop Ayungin mission'

Latest incident neither misunderstanding nor accident - DND chief

-  ALEXIS ROMERO

It was neither a "misunderstanding" nor an "accident," with Filipinos forced to use their bare hands to fend off Chinese coast guard personnel who boarded their boats and resorted to "illegal use of force" to stop them from completing a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, officials said yesterday.

In a joint statement, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr., National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and acting Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro also stressed that the Philippine government would never seek permission or consent from anyone in performing its sworn duties, including the sending of supplies to Filipino troops stationed on the Sierra Madre.

"We see the latest incident in Ayungin not as a misunderstanding or an accident. It is a deliberate act of the Chinese officialdom to prevent us from completing our mission," according to the joint statement, read by Teodoro in a press briefing at Malacañang.

"After our visit to our troops in Palawan yesterday, where the President personally talked to the troops involved in the RORE (rotation and resupply), we have now come to a conclusion that it was not a misunderstanding or an accident," the statement read.

Teodoro also said there will be no prior announcement of RORE missions, contrary to a recommendation of the National Maritime Council to President Marcos.

"The President has reiterated that we will not publish schedules of any RORE," Teodoro added.

"We will continue our rotation and resupply missions on a regular basis, the welfare of our troops in the BRP Sierra Madre being a matter of utmost importance," Teodoro said.

The officials issued the statement three days after Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin told a Palace press briefing that the Ayungin incident last June 17 was "probably a misunderstanding or accident," not an armed attack.