West PH Sea: No Ayungin resupply since violent June 17 encounter

WEAPON IN HAND The Armed Forces of the Philippines, which released this photo on Wednesday, said one of the China Coast Guard members shown here (center) wielded a pickaxe and made threatening gestures in their encounter with Filipino troops on a resupply mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on June 17.

MANILA, Philippines — There has yet to be any rotation and resupply (Rore) mission at the naval outpost in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea since the violent June 17 incident there, a navy official said on Tuesday.

However, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, assured that the supplies for the troops in the BRP Sierra Madre remains sufficient.

“Not yet, the last activity was the evacuation,” Trinidad said, referring to the July 7 medical evacuation of a navy personnel, when asked to confirm if there has been a Rore conducted after the June 17 incident.

READ: West PH Sea: China tried but failed to block medical evacuation of sailor – PCG

“The last Rore was June 17,” he said.

The June 17 incident in the BRP Sierra Madre saw the most violent actions of China Coast Guard personnel so far, leading to what the Philippine military deemed as “looting” of its disassembled high-powered guns and even caused the thumb amputation of one of its naval personnel.

READ: West Philippine Sea: 2016 arbitral award ‘a political circus’, says China

Last July 7, the CCG also tried but failed to block the medical evacuation of a navy personnel in BRP Sierra Madre, according to the Philippine Coast Guard.