AFP delivers Noche Buena packs to Ayungin troops

The Philippine Navy delivered Christmas Noche Buena packages last week to soldiers on the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal unmolested by the Chinese, who watched from a distance on their coast guard and naval vessels.

- By MICHAEL PUNONGBAYAN

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) also said rotation and resupply (RORE) missions to eight other islands occupied by Filipinos were carried out uninterrupted by the Chinese between Dec. 3 and 14.

"The highlight of the RORE was the delivery of Noche Buena packages for our troops. Their morale was high," Philippine Navy spokesman for the WPS issue, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, said yesterday.

"What I would like to tell our countrymen is, we performed our mandate without any fanfare, on land, sea and air. This, we offer to the nation," he said.

During the RORE mission to the Sierra Madre led by the Western Command (WESCOM), two ships of the China Coast Guard and the People’s Liberation Army Navy could be seen watching from afar, according to Trinidad.

But he stressed the Chinese vessels made “no illegal or coercive actions.” He did not name the Philippine Navy vessels used in the RORE missions.