MANILA, Philippines – For three weeks, the 60 or so personnel of the BRP Teresa Magbanua made do with what they had during a five-month watch in Escoda Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
With no resupply missions making it past China’s roster of maritime forces in the shoal, lugaw or rice porridge became the sole item on the menu. Water was scarce, too. The vessel’s desalination system had conked out by then, its filter in need of replacement. While an airdrop in late August included drinking water, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel aboard eventually had to resort to rain water to quench their thirst.
When it did not rain, its crew resorted to water that was collected from the air conditioning system. They boiled it, at least. There was no being choosy when you’re out at sea, surrounded by Chinese vessels, and a resupply mission is a question of if, and not when.
China’s full court press in late August stopped the resupply via two smaller PCG vessels, and bad weather for over a week made the choice for officials in Manila clear: it was time for the Magbanua to come home.
At past noon on Sunday, September 15, the Philippines’ National Maritime Council (NMC) confirmed what many in the media and anyone with access to the automatic identification system in the South China Sea had already known: the BRP Teresa Magbanua, was finally returning to shore in Puerto Princesa City.
The first images and videos from its homecoming were jarring. A handful of PCG personnel left the ship on stretchers, intravenous lines hooked up to their arms. Lieutenant Commander Efren Duran, the Magbanua’s commanding officer, was in tears as he spoke to PCG chief Admiral Ronnie Gavan.
The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS)’s Commodore Jay Tarriela would explain in a press conference on Monday, September 16, that Duran was emotional because he felt bad — leaving Escoda Shoal had not been part of their plans.
Duran and the men and women of the Magbanua were ready to stay in Escoda in a daunting standoff against China’s fleet of China Coast Guard (CCG), Chinese Maritime Militia, and even Chinese Navy ships, said the PCG.
The whys in the Magbanua’s forced pullout are easy to understand – first, there was bad weather since early last week. Second, basic supplies were scarce. Finally, the health and safety of its crew were a concern — they’d been out for sea longer than the Magbanua’s usual deployments. Personnel were dehydrated and sick.
The hows and what nows are a little harder to parse out.
Tensions in August
Tarriela, explaining to the media how the Magbanua ended up in such a dire situation, said that while resupply attempts in the first months of the Magbanua’s mission went by without a hitch, August was different.
China seemed determined to cut off the Magbanua from resupply ships by shooing away (with their water cannons and through ramming) Philippine ships, including those who weren’t on resupply missions for the PCG vessel. Tensions soared in August with the two countries trading allegations of illegal actions and aggression in or near the shoal.
Beijing accused Manila of ramming their CCG vessel, even if videos (including their own) showed that it was the stationary Magbanua that was in front of the moving Chinese ship. The August 31 ramming of the Magbanua left a gaping hole in its hull; it also explains why the PCG was worried about her seaworthiness amid torrential rain and strong waves in Escoda Shoal and parts of the West Philippine Sea.
While Beijing’s version of “restraint” at sea apparently includes ramming and the use of water cannons, the CCG and Chinese navy stopped short of actually hauling the Magbanua away from the shoal. Instead, they resorted to violence against the ship and around it, forcibly laying out conditions that would force its withdrawal.
Cruelty and intimidation was the point.
“The withdrawal is the only correct choice and proves the Philippines’ previous resupply attempts were unnecessary. It is a good thing to cool down the situation in Xianbin Jiao (their term for Sabina or Escoda Shoal),” reads a media release from the Chinese military.
Manila had seemed confident it could find a way to resupply the Magbanua. Except that the weather did not cooperate, Tarriela said.
“Forced by the Chinese for us to go back? I don’t think so. Hindi naman ako naniniwala mas malakas sila kay Lord para magpabagyo ng Palawan. Di ba? Again, it’s not just the supplies that compelled us to go back to the port in Puerto Princesa, it’s the bad weather condition,” said Tarriela. (I don’t think China is a greater force than God in bringing bad weather over Palawan, right?)
Even China’s maritime might was no match to the bad weather. According to Tarriela, only 11 Chinese Maritime Militia ships remained in the vicinity of the shoal; other vessels, including the CCG and the Chinese navy — have since pulled out.
Ghosts of Scarborough
There have been some quick and, arguably understandable, comparisons to the 2012 standoff between the Philippines and China that led to Beijing seizing control of Scarborough Shoal, a high-tide elevation close to Zambales province.
Ronald Llamas, who was the late Benigno Aquino III’s political adviser then, insisted the situation is different. “There was an agreement for both countries to leave Scarborough. We abided with the agreement, the Chinese didn’t. This time, the Teresa Magbanua left because she was low in food and supplies. A 44-meter replacement is on its way. We will not leave Escoda that easily,” he said.
To this day, there is at least one CCG vessel patrolling the shoal’s lagoon and sole entrance. The Chinese Maritime Militia serve as support units.
Tarriela, who said the Philippines did not blink nor waiver despite pulling out the Magbanua, said they are different situations. Unlike in Scarborough, Escoda’s two shoals can be entered through several openings. When the Philippines sends another PCG ship, it should, in theory, find at least entrance to access one of the two shoals.
Beyond monitoring supposed Chinese reclamation activities in Escoda which, Tarriela himself pointed out, takes years to finish, the deployment of a PCG ship is simply about being present.
Asked about what the next PCG ship would do once it’s deployed to the shoal, Tarriela said: “Whether we anchor or we loiter or we sail within Escoda Shoal, these are operational details. I cannot clearly discuss what we intend to do [but] again, our commitment is to deploy a vessel there, to fly our flag there,” he said.
Former Western Command chief Alexander Lopez, spokesperson for the National Maritime Council, said on Monday that the replacement ship was already close to or within the vicinity of Escoda. Will she make it, and will she have an easier time than the BRP Teresa Magbanua? – Rappler.com
