SEN. Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution calling for a Senate inquiry into the “provisional understanding” between the Philippines and China governing resupply missions in Ayungin Shoal.
In Senate Resolution 589, Hontiveros cited a string of incidents that cast doubt on the effectivity of the deal, including a June 2024 confrontation that cost a Filipino sailor his thumb, a March 2026 incident in which a fire-control radar was directed at Philippine Navy frigate BRP Miguel Malvar and a July 2026 attack at Ayungin itself in which a Philippine Navy personnel was struck with a wooden baton and had to be medically evacuated.
”The question is simply this: Is this agreement working? Because if its purpose is to avoid conflict and protect our soldiers, why do they continue to be harmed while simply doing their jobs? The Senate needs to see exactly what was agreed upon, and whether the Philippines is actually benefiting from it,” Hontiveros said.
”This deal is supposed to calm our waters. Instead, our soldiers keep coming home injured. Either the agreement isn’t working, or it was never designed to protect us in the first place,” she added.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said the deal is meant to avoid miscalculation during Philippine missions to the BRP Sierra Madre, and does not require the Armed Forces of the Philippines to seek China’s permission or allow Chinese boarding of Philippine vessels.
However, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has said no such deal exists.
”The DFA cannot claim there is an agreement while the DND (Department of National Defense) says there isn’t one. These are the agencies responsible for our foreign relations and national defense. It needs to be clear to both of them — and especially to our soldiers on the ground — what our policy actually is,” Hontiveros said.
”I am not saying that information truly sensitive to national security needs to be disclosed. However, confidentiality cannot be used to hide from the public an agreement that affects our territory, our rights and the lives of those we send there,” she added.
In the resolution, Hontiveros invoked the Constitution’s guarantee of full public disclosure of government transactions involving public interest, particularly one affecting jurisdiction over the country’s maritime zones, sovereign rights and the safety of Filipino personnel.
”The West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue is not something we can afford to negotiate in the dark. We don’t need to escalate the situation. But we need to be clear and firm,” Hontiveros said.
”Let us determine what has been agreed upon, streamline coordination among our agencies and ensure that no Filipino soldier is deployed on a mission without a clear plan for their protection. We should not be fumbling in the dark within our own waters. The Filipino people have every right to know about what is being decided in our name, in our waters,” the senator added.
Meanwhile, the compensation demanded by the Philippines from the Chinese government for the Philippine Navy officer who lost a finger and equipment damaged during an encounter with Chinese maritime forces in the WPS two years ago is still nowhere in sight, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday.
On June 17, 2024, Philippine Navy Seaman First Class Jeffrey Facundo lost his right thumb during an incident involving CCG personnel armed with axes and knives.
Facundo’s thumb was severed as the Chinese forces rammed, punctured, boarded and towed their vessels. Fortunately, his severed finger was successfully reconstructed and Facundo shortly after returned to active service.
The Philippine government demanded a P60-million compensation for vessel and equipment damage, return of the seized firearms and accountability for the severe injury, but China deliberately ignored the demand until today.
”As to the compensation for the equipment and the damage done to our assets, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has submitted this particular requirement, but it seems that there’s still no response,” Col. Xerxes Trinidad, AFP Public Affairs chief, told reporters in a briefing at Camp Aguinaldo.
The AFP has provided all necessary compensation for Facundo, RAdm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesman for the WPS, said.
Just recently, another Navy officer was injured by Chinese forces, this time hitting the Filipino soldier with a baton in the head.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that if a Filipino citizen or member of the military is willfully killed in an attack in the WPS, that act would constitute an act of war that could potentially invoke the United States-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty.
