MANILA – Two Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) ships — BRP Datu Pagbuaya and BRP Datu Bankaw — were forced to suspend their marine scientific research (MSR) and sand sampling in the Pag-Asa cays after harassment by China Coast Guard vessels and a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) helicopter on Friday morning.
The encounter involved CCG vessels 4106, 5103 and 4202; four small CCG boats; and a PLAN chopper with tail number 24, as the two Filipino vessels were en route to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) features.
The BFAR mission was supposed to conduct research and collect samples from cays 2 (Sandy Cay) and 3 sandbanks or sandbars located some five to six nautical miles off Pag-asa Island.
“As a result of this continuous harassment and the disregard for safety exhibited by the Chinese maritime forces, BFAR and PCG (Philippine Coast Guard) have regrettably suspended their survey operations and were unable to collect sand samples at Sandy Cays,” PCG spokesperson for the WPS Jay Tarriela said Saturday.
The three CCG ships made “aggressive maneuvers,” which he called a “blatant disregard for the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs).”
The CCG also deployed four small boats to harass two BFAR rigid hull inflatable boats (RHIBs) that were transporting manpower to the Sandy Cays.
The PLAN helicopter, on the other hand, hovered at an “unsafe altitude” above the BFAR RHIBs, which created hazardous conditions for the personnel onboard due to the propeller wash.
In a news forum in Quezon City, Tarriela described the latest act as “aggressive and escalatory.”
It was the second time the PLAN deployed a helicopter to hover over a government asset this year, the first when the Philippines was countering China’s illegal patrol some 70 nautical miles off Zambales.
“As far as the coast guard is concerned, and together with the BFAR, this kind of action on the part of the People’s Republic of China is always considered to be aggressive and escalatory,” Tarriela said.
“On our part, we are not going to carry out actions that will instigate more provocative actions or more provocative response,” he added.
Tarriela said the Philippines had been conducting regular sand sampling in the area after previously discovering that the Pag-Asa Island cays are in a degraded state.
In the same forum, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ed De Vega said China should expect another diplomatic protest after the incident.
“When incidents like this happen… China knows this, this should be no different,” he said. (PNA)

“I only need one 1500 gpm (gallons per minute) rated capacity pumper and one tanker to water supply and the historical building could have been saved,” Magno said in disappointment, suggesting that Manila Fire officers and personnel undergo schooling and training.

“If you have a 40,000 square foot building that is all ordinary group 1, the calculation would be 1,500 x 0.15 (density) = 225 + 250 (hose demand) = 475 gpm total for the fire pump,” he said, “if the structure has multiple hazards, the hazard with the highest gpm calculation dictates the pump size.”

“These are simple fire ground hydraulic calculation that all fire officers must learn,” he reiterated.

Magno also took exception to a Manila Fire Department statement using the term “mopping up” operations which, he said, is not part of the Fire Service’s language. “Ano kayo sundalo?” a visibly irked Magno said.

“Ang tawag diyan ay “overhaul operations, the objective of which is to seek out and extinguish all remaining fire, control loss, stabilize the incident scene by providing firefighter safety and to secure the structure.”

The fire hit the Manila Post Office in Manila late Sunday night and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said the blaze reached the first alarm at 11:41 p.m. Sunday and reached general alarm shortly before 6 a.m. Monday.

PREMATURE 

It was declared fire under control as of 7:22 a.m., Monday,  Manila Fire Department Fire Superintendent Christine Doctor-Cula said in a Facebook post, an announcement that Magno said was premature, righly so as the fire raged on for another day before finally being put out on Tuesday.

LOOTING?

Seventeen (17) fire personnel and a civilian were reportedly injured, strangely so, according to Magno, because they must have been donning PPEs (Personnel Protective Equipment). “They may have sustained injuries because they took off their PPEs for some reason, like attempting to sift through the parcels for what they can take,” he told Subic Bay News.

Magno said he is offering the services of the SBMA Fire Department to train and provide schooling for Manila Fire Dept. officers and personnel.

The SBMA Fire Department is a multi-awarded unit, both locally and internationally, and has been tapped to provide services in several major disasters, the latest of which was the deadly magnitude 7.8 earthquake that rocked Turkiye and Syria in February this year, killing close to 60,000 people in both countries.

Magno, a fireman of the US Naval Base in Subic Bay in the past, himself, headed the 82-man Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team of the Philippine contingent which heaped praises from the Turkish government and was cited by the Philippine senate for a job well done.

“May kirot sa dibdib ang pagkatupok ng Manila Post Office buiding,“ he said, “wala na nga tayo halos ganoong klaseng gusali na nakatayo pa hanggang sa kaslukuyan tapos ganoon na lang, napabayaan. (Vic V. Vizcocho, Jr. with reports from PNA)

The BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PS-15), one of the largest vessels of the Philippine Navy (PN), has successfully completed two sea trials and is now nearing operational status, more than three years after a grounding incident in 2018.

“PN patrol ship under the Offshore Combat Force, BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, has successfully completed two sea trials that included the testing of the ship’s main and auxiliary engines, propellers, and other related systems. The sea trials conducted are aimed at assessing the vessel’s seaworthiness,” Navy spokesperson Commander Benjo Negranza said in a message to reporters Tuesday.

These sea trials took place earlier this month in Subic Bay, Zambales.

“Currently, BRP Gregorio Del Pilar is not yet fully operational pending its endurance test. This is being conducted to test the overall performance of a vessel at maximum continuous rating at a given period usually from six to 24 hours to ensure the reliability of the ship’s main propulsion and auxiliary engines,” Negranza said.

He also added that the ship is also scheduled to have its Operational Readiness Evaluation (ORE).

In the ORE, Negranza said the ship’s degree of readiness and its crew on various conditions such as standard drills and exercises required for a wide range of missions, is evaluated.

This is done prior to deployment to naval operating forces, he added.

“The area of deployment of BRP Gregorio Del Pilar will be determined by the higher headquarters based on several factors,” Negranza said.

One of the ship’s two variable pitch propellers was damaged, along with its propeller hub, after it ran aground off Hasa-Hasa Shoal in August 2018.

Difficulties in procuring parts and the pandemic moved the completion of the repairs of the BRP Gregorio Del Pilar to the latter part of 2021.

Earlier, the PN said no fire broke out aboard the offshore patrol vessel BRP Gregorio Del Pilar, amid reports of an unusual amount of smoke coming from the vessel during a recent sea trial.

“(The) BRP Gregorio Del Pilar conducted (a) sea trial in the waters at the vicinity of Subic in the morning of March 14, 2022. While the more-than-usual smoke was noted during the sea trial, there is no incident of fire aboard (the) ship as alleged. The ship’s force, together with our engineers and contracted repair specialists, are looking at the possible cause of the unusual volume of smoke,” Negranza said. (PNA)

CEBU CITY – The Philippine Navy’s landing platform dock BRP Tarlac has completed its fifth relief operation in the Visayas, helping thousands of victims of Typhoon Odette that battered parts of the Visayas and Mindanao in December last year.

In a statement on Thursday, the Naval Forces Central (Navforcen) said BRP Tarlac (LD601), skippered by Commander Emerson Oxales, successfully transported and delivered approximately 370 tons of relief cargoes for the relief sortie operation on Chinese New Year.

“LD601 arrived and docked at Pier 4, Cebu City last January 30, 2022 wherein she carried consolidated relief goods and essential items from different government agencies, Philippine Navy units, and stakeholders intended for typhoon-affected communities in Cebu, Bohol and Negros Oriental,” Navforcen’s public affairs officer, Lt. Junior Grade Frances Maye Macapinig said.

Macapinig said organic personnel of the Navforcen, along with its operational and tactical control units, participated in the unloading and hauling of relief goods from the landing craft.

Navforcen has operational and tactical control units in the three regions in the Visayas — Naval Installation Facility –Central (NIF-C), Marine Amphibious Ready Unit, 9th Marine Battalion (MARU, 9th MBn), Civil Military Operations Unit – Central (CMOU-C), Naval Special Operations Unit – 5 (NAVSOU-5), Naval Information and Communication Technology Station – Cebu (NICTS-C), Naval Reserve Center Eastern Visayas (NRCEV), and Naval Supply Depot Cebu (NSDC).

The assorted relief goods and cargoes will be sorted out before distribution to the beneficiaries. (PNA)

A DISTRAUGHT security guard of Subic Yokohama Trucks inside the Subic Bay Gateway Park, also known as Taiwanese Industrial Park in the Subic Bay Freeport, locked himself up in a room in the company premises for some three (3) hours allegedly to commit suicide, raising tensions in this part of the generally peaceful zone on Monday.

“Natakot kami dahil may 9mm caliber pistol siya na baka sa amin iputok,” a Subic Yokohama employee told Subic Bay News, “kaya tumigil kami lahat sa trabaho at kanya-kanyang safety,” he said, requesting not to be named for fear of management’s possible adverse reaction against him for talking to the media.

Elements of the Olongapo City Police Office (OCPO) responded to beef up personnel of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) Law Enforcement Department (LED) to secure the area and negotiated with the guard to reconsider his suicide plan.

The 55-year-old guard heeded the calls for his surrender and calmly allowed himself to be brought to the OCPO Station 3, Magsaysay Drive, Olongapo City.

A 9mm pistol with seven (9) bullets was confiscated from him.

Police said the guard contemplated suicide because of financial and personal problems. (VGD/VR)

###

MANILA – The Philippines will fully exercise its sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea, Malacañang reiterated on Friday.

Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles made the statement in reaction to China’s demand for the Philippine government to “honor its commitment” and remove the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal.

The Chinese Coast Guard blocked and fired water cannons at two Philippine boats transporting supplies to military personnel of the BRP Sierra Madre at the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on November 16.

The move drew international criticisms and from President Rodrigo Duterte himself, who said the incident “does not speak well of relations” between Manila and Beijing.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana called it “an affront to the Filipino people”.

Nograles said the Ayungin Shoal lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“Paulit-ulit namang binabalikan lagi ni Pangulong Duterte sa mga summit, pati na rin sa pagsasalita niya sa United Nations. Binabalikan natin lagi ‘yung UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) at ‘yung arbitral award. Doon po, napakaliwanag po na kabilang po iyan (Ayungin) sa ating EEZ. Kabilang po iyan sa ating teritoryo (President Duterte has repeatedly reiterated this in various summits, as well as in his speech before the United Nations. We refer to the UNCLOS and arbitral award that Ayungin is within our EEZ. It is part of our territory) and we will fully exercise our sovereign rights over our territory,” Nograles said in a Palace press briefing.

Lorenzana had refuted anew China’s claims in the Ayungin Shoal, describing the Chinese as the actual trespassers.

“As far as I know there is no such commitment. That ship has been there since 1999. If there was (a) commitment it would have been removed a long time ago,” Lorenzana said.

The defense chief reiterated that Manila has two documents to prove that it has sovereign rights in this EEZ while Beijing has none.

“[S]ila ay wala (nito) at ‘yung claim nila ay walang basehan (They don’t have this and their claim doesn’t have a basis,” he said.

I have told the Chinese Ambassador (Huang Xilian) that no one can prevent us from doing what we have to lawfully do within the West Philippine Sea, an area where we have sovereign rights by international laws,” Lorenzana added in a statement.

The 2016 Arbitration Award rendered under UNCLOS had ruled that the Ayungin Shoal lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile EEZ and continental shelf, a decision recognized by the international community, including the United States, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, New Zealand, and the European Union.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday night insisted that the Ayungin Shoal is part of its waters and went on claiming that the resumption of Manila’s resupply mission to BRP Sierra Madre is “a provisional, special arrangement out of humanitarian considerations.”
“China demands that the Philippine side honor its commitment and remove its grounded vessel on Ren’ai Jiao (Ayungin Shoal). This position remains unchanged,” he said in a statement.

He also indicated the Chinese Coast Guard’s continued presence in the area, saying it “patrolled” and “monitored from start to end the Philippine side’s supply delivery activities.”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), meanwhile, branded the latest Chinese remarks as mere “wolf warrior” release and the recent incident as harassment.

Earlier, DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin, Jr. emphasized that China has “no law enforcement rights in and around” the area. (PNA)

MANILA – The Japanese Embassy in Manila said Saturday it “strongly opposes” any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas (SCS).

The statement came days after Chinese Coast Guard vessels blocked and fired a water cannon on two Filipino boats en route to the Ayungin Shoal.

“Japan strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East & South China Seas,” Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Kazuhiko Koshikawa said in a tweet. “Compliance with the 2016 Arbitral Award and the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes based on international law, UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), are vital for peace and prosperity for the region.”

Under the arbitral ruling, the Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal had been classified as part of the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf.

It declared that the feature is not “overlapped by any possible entitlement of China.”

The recent Ayungin incident happened on November 16, drawing outrage from the Philippine government.

On Friday, the US government expressed solidarity with Manila, saying the Chinese action “directly threatens regional peace and stability.”

United Kingdom Minister of State for Asia Amanda Milling on Saturday also expressed her concern over “recent incidents” that have raised tensions in the region but did not directly refer to the Chinese Coast Guard actions in Ayungin.

“Pleased to reaffirm the importance the UK attaches to UNCLOS and a stable, prosperous South China Sea at the 13th Hanoi SCS Conference this week. I am concerned by recent incidents that have raised tensions and urge against actions that hinder the peaceful settlement of disputes,” she said. (PNA)

In a statement released by the US Embassy in Manila, the US State Department said the US “stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of this escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability…”

The Full Statement:

“On the Situation in the South China Sea

Two days ago, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Coast Guard blocked and used water cannons against Philippine resupply ships en route to Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.

The United States stands with our ally, the Philippines, in the face of this escalation that directly threatens regional peace and stability, escalates regional tensions, infringes upon freedom of navigation in the South China Sea as guaranteed under international law, and undermines the rules-based international order.

On July 12, 2016, an Arbitral Tribunal constituted under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, delivered a unanimous and enduring decision firmly rejecting the PRC’s claims to Second Thomas Shoal and to waters determined to be part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. 

The PRC and the Philippines, pursuant to their treaty obligations under the Law of the Sea Convention, are legally bound to comply with this decision.  The PRC should not interfere with lawful Philippine activities in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

The United States stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order and reaffirms that an armed attack on Philippine public vessels in the South China Sea would invoke U.S. mutual defense commitments under Article IV of the 1951 U.S. Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.

The United States strongly believes that PRC actions asserting its expansive and unlawful South China Sea maritime claims undermine peace and security in the region.”

###

In an advisory, Jerome M. Martinez, SBMA Seaport Dept. General Manager said “all vessel movements during the storm will not be authorized… until further notice.”

Incoming vessels scheduled to arrive in the Port of Subic have also been advised “to stay off track of the typhoon” and will not be allowed to enter the port.

Tropical Storm Dante is moving West NorthWestward at 15 kms. per hour towards the Southern coast of Batangas, according to the 5pm bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration (PAG ASA) of the Dept. of Science & Technology (DoST).

According to PAG ASA, Dante is packing maximum sustained winds of 65 km/h near the center, with gustiness of up to 90 km/h. (VVV)

Location: Worldwide – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director has signed an order requiring all airline passengers traveling to the United States, including U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs), to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 viral test or recovery from COVID-19.

Event:  Effective January 26, all airline passengers to the United States ages two years and older must provide either a negative COVID-19 viral test taken within three calendar days of travel or provide a positive test result and documentation from a licensed health care provider or public health official of having recovered from COVID-19 in the 90 days preceding travel.  Passengers must also attest, under penalty of law, to having received a negative qualifying test result or to recovery from COVID-19 and medical clearance to travel. 
  
See the CDC Proof of Negative Test Result page to view the order, complete the attestation, and to see FAQ’s. 
  -
Airlines must deny boarding to passengers who do not meet these requirements.   

U.S. citizens in countries where adequate COVID-19 testing is not available or may not be able to satisfy the requirements, should depart immediately or prepare to be unable to return to the United States until such time as they can meet the requirements.    

Actions to Take:
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