End of a long haul: ‘Teresa Magbanua’ arriving at a port in Puerto Princesa, Palawan, after a months-long standoff at a disputed reef. — AFP
A Philippine vessel that spent months anchored at a disputed reef in the South China Sea has left the area, the national maritime council said.
The Philippine Coast Guard ship BRP Teresa Magbanua had been anchored inside the Sabina Shoal since April to assert Manila’s claims to the area and prevent China from seizing it.
Philippine and Chinese vessels have collided at least three times recently near Sabina Shoal, located 140km from the Philippines’ western island of Palawan and 1,200km from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan island.
The Teresa Magbanua’s bridge wing and freeboard were damaged in one of the collisions.
“During her deployment... she challenged an encirclement by a larger flotilla of intruders, battled inclement weather, with her crew surviving on diminished daily provisions,” National Maritime Council chairperson and executive secretary Lucas Bersamin said in a statement yesterday.
Last month, Chinese vessels blocked a resupply mission to the Filipino sailors on board the ship, leaving them running critically low of food and other provisions.
The Teresa Magbanua “carried out her sentinel duties against overwhelming odds”, Bersamin added.
China’s coastguard noted the ship’s withdrawal yesterday, and said Beijing “has indisputable sovereignty over... Xianbin Jiao and its adjacent waters”, using the Chinese name for Sabina Shoal.Beijing “will continue to carry out rights protection and law enforcement activities in waters under China’s jurisdiction”, spokesperson Liu Dejun said.
Philippines National Maritime Council spokesman Alexander Lopez said the country would “continue to monitor and enforce our rights, exercise our rights, sovereign rights, sovereignty and jurisdiction over the area”. — AFP
