New details on CCG’s actions in Ayungin: Tear gas, rocks thrown vs PH navy

MANILA, Philippines — China Coast Guard (CCG) threw tear gas, hurled rocks, and used blinding strobe lights against Philippine navy personnel during Monday’s resupply mission for a grounded naval outpost in the West Philippine Sea.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) revealed these additional details late Wednesday night as it released for the first time several footages showing the ordeal of the two rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) used to resupply BRP Sierra Madre grounded in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

A 35-second footage taken by a body camera showed how a CCG boat rammed one of two Philippine Navy’s rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIB) while a personnel made a tourniquet on the right hand of a sailor who lost his thumb due to a prior ramming incident.

READ: Brawner slams China’s ‘piracy’ in West Philippine Sea

CCG also deployed tear gas

“Amidst this violent confrontation, the CCG also deployed tear gas, intensifying the chaos and confusion,” the AFP said.

The AFP also shared a 50-second video where the CCG personnel were seen wielding bolos and pickaxes, which they also used to slash the other RHIB moored near the BRP Sierra Madre.

Furthermore, the bolo-wielding CCG personnel then began hurling rocks and other objects at the personnel of the moored RHIB at the BRP Sierra Madre.

“They have pickaxes, pamalo (stick), and they are now throwing rocks,” a navy personnel could be heard saying during the video.

Another 55-second video shows how CCG personnel employ sirens and blinding strobe lights during their towing of the moored RHIB. During the commotion, a navy personnel could be heard shouting at CCG: “Stop! This is our territory!”

Towed away

Two CCG boats then crammed the RHIB which was towed away from the BRP Sierra Madre, as shown by a 30-second aerial footage.

AFP chief of staff Romeo Brawner Jr. on Wednesday said CCG should be made accountable for their “piracy” and should return the rifles and other equipment they “looted” from navy troops, as well as the damages they have caused.

Manila’s regular resupply mission in the BRP Sierra Madre became one of the flashpoints of tension in the West Philippine Sea, and the latest mission saw the most violent actions from Beijing thus far.

Beijing asserts sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, even if such a claim has been effectively invalidated by a July 2016 international tribunal ruling that stemmed from a case filed by Manila in 2013.