MANILA — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Wednesday detailed how the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) boarded Filipino vessels delivering supplies to its military outpost in Ayungin shoal on June 17.

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In a press conference, AFP chief-of-staff Romeo Brawner, Jr. said the CCG "hijacked" the Philippines' rotation and reprovisioning (RORE) mission, resulting in damage and severe injury of a Navy officer, who lost his right thumb.

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"They have no right or legal authority to hijack our operations and destroy Philippine vessels operating within our exclusive economic zone (EEZ)... The core issue remains [to be] the illegal presence and actions of Chinese vessels within our jurisdiction," Brawner said. 

BLADED WEAPONS

According to Rear Admiral Alfonso Torres Jr., commander of the AFP Western Command (WESCOM), CCG personnel "deliberately punctured" some Philippine rubber boats using several pointed weapons.

"Our rubber boats, alongside LS57 (BRP Sierra Madre), were deliberately punctured by the CCG while thy were dealing with our newly-arrived rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB)... They took advantage of the space that they had... [and] deliberately punctured our rubber boats using knives other pointed tools," Torres said.

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Brawner said this was the first time Chinese elements showed such weapons, supposedly to intimidate Filipino forces.

"This was the first time na nakitaan natin ang CCG na nagdala ng mga bolo, mga sibat, mga kutsilyo... Yun yung ginamit nila na pangsira, pangbutas sa RHIB natin. Kitang kita sa videos. We saw in the video how the Chinese even threatened our personnel by pointing their knives at our personnel," Brawner said.

But Brawner said Filipino personnel showed "restraint" and instead fought back using their bare hands.

"Depsite this, lumaban yung ating mga sundalo with their bare hands. Makikita niyo tinutulak nila yung RHIB ng CCG palabas, palayo. They were preventing CCG from hitting them with their bolos, machetes, and other bladed weapons," Brawner said.

"Kaya ako ay hangang-hanga sa ating mga sundalo. Lumaban po tayo [but] we were outnumbered," he added.

'LOOTING'

Brawner added that CCG personnel "illegally embarked" on a Filipino vessel to seize and destroy some of its equipment.

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"Our personnel observed firmness and patience and resilience while they were illegally boarded by the crew of CCG vessel," he said.

Some of the items "looted" by CCG include firearms, which were supposedly hidden during such RORE missions.

"One of our guidance when it comes to conduct of RORE [is] no firearms will be handled or shown by our personnel and we are doing that to avoid misperception that we are conducting an armed operation. So the firearms were disassembled, in the bags, gun cases, so there was no show," Brawner explained.

Torres said it was possible that the CCG personnel did not know that they were seizing firearms from the Filipino RHIB. He added that seven firearms were "looted" by the CCG.

"Seven firearms were looted and forcibly taken. Siguro di nila alam yung laman ng mga bag na yon," Torres said.

Torres also said that the CCG personnel "destroyed communication equipment, outboard motor and other navigational equipment, and they even took the personal cellphones of our personnel."

DEMAND TO CHINA 

Brawner said China's latest actions can now be considered "piracy."

"For me this is piracy already. Because they boarded our boats illegally they got our equipment, parang mga pirata na sila sa kanilang actions," he said.

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According to Brawner, the Philippines will demanding the return of seized items as well as compensation for the damaged vessels and equipment.

"We are demanding now that the Chinese return our rifles and our equipment and we are demanding for them to pay the damage that they’ve caused... Hindi tayo papayag na sisirain nila ang ating kagamitan," Brawner said.

The AFP chief said he would award medals to uniformed men who survived China's latest harassment in the West Philippine Sea.

"I will be giving medals sa ating personnel na involved doon sa RORE mission na ito... Hindi nawala yung kanilang fighting spirit," Brawner said.

China had said the Philippines was to blame for the latest confrontation. 

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