MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday evacuated two injured Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel from Ayungin Shoal despite what it said were blocking maneuvers by China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels, as the military accused the Chinese Embassy of releasing an edited video that distorted the latest confrontation in the West Philippine Sea.
The PCG said it deployed BRP Melchora Aquino and BRP Malapascua on Monday to conduct a medical evacuation after two Philippine Navy personnel were injured during Sunday’s confrontation with the CCG near the grounded BRP Sierra Madre.
The vessels arrived near Ayungin Shoal on Tuesday morning, and the injured personnel were transferred to BRP Melchora Aquino later in the day, where they received treatment from a PCG medical officer.
The PCG said CCG rigid-hull inflatable boats carried out blocking maneuvers against the Philippine vessels during the humanitarian mission, but the evacuation was completed successfully.
One serviceman suffered a laceration to the head and a contusion on the arm from blunt-force trauma, while another sustained a laceration to an index finger that weakened his grip strength.
Both were reported to be in stable condition.
The evacuation came a day after the AFP accused CCG personnel of attacking Philippine Navy troops with wooden batons during a routine rotation and resupply mission to the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, leaving two Filipinos injured.
The military later released videos of the confrontation, while Beijing denied the allegations and blamed Philippine personnel for provoking the incident.
‘Spliced’ video
Earlier Tuesday, AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad (Reserve) accused the Chinese Embassy of releasing an edited video that omitted the events leading up to Sunday’s confrontation near BRP Sierra Madre.
Trinidad was responding to a statement issued by the CCG and posted by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
The CCG claimed Philippine personnel aboard rubber boats ignored repeated warnings, surrounded and rammed a Chinese patrol boat before attacking Chinese law enforcement officers with oars and long sticks.
Beijing said its personnel responded with “proportional countermeasures” while exercising “maximum rationality and restraint,” and accused Manila of distorting the facts.
Trinidad rejected the account, saying the embassy had released only part of the encounter.
“What they released was a spliced or incomplete part of the video,” he said during a virtual briefing.
“If they started at the very beginning, you would see that the boats came into close proximity of BRP Sierra Madre. That is already a self-incriminating video because it shows they approached the ship,” he said.
According to Trinidad, a CCG vessel south of Ayungin Shoal launched two rigid-hull inflatable boats that closed to within 20 to 30 meters of the grounded Philippine Navy ship, where Chinese personnel allegedly took photos and videos from inside its exclusion zone.
AFP rubber boats then moved in to drive the Chinese craft away, an action Trinidad described as defensive and consistent with the military’s rules of engagement.
“The action of our rubber boats was merely to drive them away. It was not confrontational. It was defensive in nature and within the rules of engagement,” he said.
The military has said the two personnel were injured after China Coast Guard personnel struck Philippine Navy troops with wooden batons during the resupply mission.
Trinidad said the release of the edited video appeared to be part of Beijing’s effort to shape the narrative after what he described as a series of diplomatic setbacks, including increasing international support for the 2016 South China Sea arbitral ruling.
“So they came out with this, but it backfired on them,” he said.
Despite the latest confrontation, Trinidad said the AFP would continue to carry out rotation and resupply missions for troops stationed aboard the BRP Sierra Madre.
“So long as they are there illegally, the potential for coercive and aggressive actions will always be there,” he said.
“The deceptive messaging being put out is meant to cover up actions that are illegal and have no basis under international law.”
The PCG condemned what it called China’s obstruction of the humanitarian medical evacuation.
It said the blocking maneuvers violated international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 arbitral award that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
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