Senior Navy official makes rare trip to Ayungin post
‘PART OF MY JOB’ | Vice President Alberto Carlos, Commander of the Palawan-based Western Command, which oversees the West Philippine Sea, visits the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on June 9, 2023. (Photo: AFP Western Command)MANILA, Philippines – A top Philippine navy official made a rare trip to a lonely outpost in the West Philippine Sea ahead of Independence Day to pay tribute to frontline troops under the ever-watchful eye of China.
Vice President Alberto Carlos, commander of the Palawan-based Western Command, responsible for protecting Philippine interests in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the West Philippine Sea, participated in a rotation and replenishment mission on June 9 aboard the battleship BRP Sierra Madre In Ayungin (second Thomas) Shoal – the highest-ranking military official to visit in recent years – where he saw firsthand the living conditions of troops fighting isolation in the country’s most vulnerable military outpost.
Riddled with holes and rust, the BRP Sierra Madre is a World War II landing craft tank that was deliberately grounded on the shallow reef in 1999 to assert the country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, part of the Philippines’ exclusive South China Sea. economic zone. (EEZ).“There is incredible determination and patriotism in all the soldiers stationed at the Ayungin outpost,” Carlos told the Inquirer on Sunday. Ayungin is a tidal range about 194 kilometers from the province of Palawan, well within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Alberto Carlos, commander of the Palawan-based Western Command, responsible for protecting Philippine interests in the Kalayaan Island Group (KIG) in the West Philippine Sea, participated in a rotation and replenishment mission on June 9 aboard the battleship BRP Sierra Madre In Ayungin (second Thomas) Shoal – the highest-ranking military official to visit in recent years – where he saw firsthand the living conditions of troops fighting isolation in the country’s most vulnerable military outpost. It is about 37 km northwest of Panganiban Reef, also in the country’s exclusive economic zone, which China seized from the Philippines in 1995 and has since converted into a massive military outpost capable of launching missiles.
