MANILA — The military on Wednesday said it encountered “no untoward incident” during a resupply mission for troops on board the Sierra Madre, a ship grounded on Ayungin Shoal to assert Manila’s claims to the West Philippine Sea.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines Public Affairs Office chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said that while en route to the BRP Sierra Madre on Tuesday, the military and coast guard monitored several Chinese vessels “in the general area.”

“Despite the presence of these foreign vessels, the entire operation was completed without confrontation or untoward incident,” he added.

The latest RORE marked the fifth consecutive unimpeded resupply operation. The four other unimpeded RoRe operations to Ayungin Shoal were conducted on January 24, 2025; November 15, 2024; September 27, 2024; and July 27, 2024.

In July last year, the Philippines and China agreed on a “provisional arrangement” for resupplying Filipino troops stationed in Ayungin Shoal following a series of escalating confrontations in the West Philippine Sea.

Manila and Beijing upheld this “understanding” during the 10th Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea on January 17.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea and has brushed off competing claims by the Philippines and other countries, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

The Philippine Coast Guard in February condemned "dangerous" maneuvers by a Chinese Navy helicopter that it said flew within three meters of a surveillance flight carrying a group of journalists over the Bajo de Masinloc.

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In December, the Philippines said the Chinese coast guard used water cannon and "sideswiped" a government fisheries department vessel.

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— With a report from Agence France-Presse