No additional troops needed to disputed territories in West PH Sea — Lorenzana
Credit to Author: The Manila Times| Date: Mon, 08 Apr 2019 11:03:02 +0000
THERE will be no additional troop deployments to the Kalayaan Group of Islands (Spratly Islands), Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said on Monday, even after President Rodrigo Duterte declared that he would send soldiers on a “suicide mission” to contested areas amid reports that Chinese ships were “circling” one of the Philippine-occupied territories.
Lorenzana said the military would maintain its “normal presence” in “Paga-asa and the other eight features that we own.”
He was referring to the Spraltlys, which include the Parola Island (Northeast Cay), Kota (Loaita) Island, Lawak (Nanshan) Island, Patag (Flat) Island, Likas (West York) Island, Panata Island (Lankiam Cay), Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Rizal (Commodore) Reef.
The Defense chief also declined to disclose the number of soldiers deployed to these islands, citing confidentiality.
“Just remember, all islands that belong to us, we have troops stationed there,” he said.
The Ayungin Shoal, for example, is guarded by the Philippine Marine Corps on rotational duty aboard the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.
Lorenzana called for a review of the 1951 mutual defense treaty between the Philippines and the United States in 2018, seeking the inclusion of islands occupied by Manila in the Spratlys and within the “Metropolitan Philippines,” as well as the Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal. DEMPSEY REYES
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