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(1st UPDATE) ‘This repositioning will permit the Magbanua to deal with the medical wants of a few of her crew, bear wanted repairs, and permit her crew to get pleasure from a well-deserved furlough and reunion with their family members,’ Nationwide Maritime Council Chairperson Government Secretary Lucas Bersamin says
MANILA, Philippines – She has seen, and has been sufferer to, the worst within the West Philippine Sea, as tensions rise between the superpower China and the Philippines.
The BRP Teresa Magbanua has survived all of it, proudly flying the Philippine flag over Escoda Shoal — by no means thoughts that there’s been a gaping gap in her hull since late August 2024.
However on Friday, September 13, the BRP Teresa Magbanua left Escoda Shoal and is returning to her house port.
In a press release by Nationwide Maritime Council Chairperson Government Secretary Lucas Bersamin, he mentioned BRP Teresa Magbanua “is now crusing again to her homeport together with her mission completed.”
The assertion from Bersamin added, “This repositioning will permit the Magbanua to deal with the medical wants of a few of her crew, bear wanted repairs, and permit her crew to get pleasure from a well-deserved furlough and reunion with their family members.”
The Magbanua, among the many Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s latest and most trendy ships, was first deployed to Sabina or Escoda Shoal in April 2024 amid worries that Beijing was making an attempt to reclaim the low-tide elevation because it had completed in different options within the West Philippine Sea.
She then went on an “prolonged patrol,” anchoring throughout the shoal and standing guard as Chinese language vessels — from the China Coast Guard (CCG), Chinese language Maritime Militia, to the Chinese language Navy — surrounded her at sea.
“After she has been resupplied and repaired, and her crew recharged, she might be in tiptop form to renew her mission, together with different PCG and AFP property, as defenders of our sovereignty,” the assertion went on to say.
Her presence within the shoal had been a sore level between the Philippines and China, with the latter calling for her exit each in diplomatic protests and public statements. In a current Bilateral Session Mechanism for the South China Sea assembly, Beijing reiterated its name for Manila to drag the ship out of the shoal.
In August, Escoda Shoal rapidly was a brand new flashpoint for tensions in waters which can be a part of the Philippines’ unique financial zone (EEZ) however that China claims is a part of its territory.
Between August 19 and 26, Chinese language vessels harassed Philippine ships at the least thrice in or in waters near Escoda Shoal, with the CCG utilizing water cannons or ramming Philippine boats. An tried two-vessel mission to deliver provides to the Magbanua was met with 40 ships rom China. The Philippines ultimately introduced provides to the Magbanua via helicopter.
On August 31, the Magbanua herself was rammed by the CCG because it lowered its anchor in a single spot in Escoda Shoal. She was left with the gaping gap in her deck, however the Philippines mentioned she would proceed her patrol within the shoal.
The shoal is a part of the Philippines’ unique financial zone — an space affirmed by a 2016 Arbitral Ruling which China refuses to acknowledge.
– Rappler.com
