AFP says West PH Sea operations to continue despite oil crisis
MANILA, Philippines — Military operations in the West Philippine Sea will continue despite the looming oil crisis, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday.
AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said operational activities will proceed as planned because they are part of the military’s mandate to safeguard the country’s territory.
“All activities of the AFP for this year that are operational in nature will continue. It’s our mandate that we should perform,” Trinidad said during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
He stressed that the military cannot scale back operations even amid concerns over fuel use.
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“For the AFP, all operational matters will continue. We could not afford to have a letdown in performing our mandate,” he said.
Trinidad was responding to questions on whether government energy conservation measures ordered by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. would affect patrols and other activities in the West Philippine Sea.
The directive asked government agencies to reduce fuel and electricity use as part of efforts to address rising global oil prices.
The spokesperson said any adjustments related to fuel conservation would be addressed at the institutional level by the Armed Forces leadership.
“It will be on the AFP level what we’re doing for that,” he said, referring questions about possible policy changes to the AFP spokesperson.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy on Thursday said it monitored 30 Chinese vessels in key features of the West Philippine Sea from March 1 to March 8. This was fewer than the 34 vessels recorded the previous week.
Panatag Shoal had the largest number of monitored vessels with 11, including four from the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and seven from the China Coast Guard (CCG).
Eight vessels were monitored in Ayungin Shoal—one from the PLAN and seven from the CCG.
In Escoda Shoal, three PLAN and four CCG ships were monitored.
Near Pag-asa Island, one PLAN and three CCG vessels were also seen. /mr
