US task force seen as a diplomatic path to address sea row with China

By John Victor D. Ordoñez, Reporter

A NEW United States task force formed to assist Philippine resupply missions to Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) will pave the way for diplomatic solutions and more joint exercises amid China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea, according to the US Embassy in the Philippines and a Philippine senator.

“Task Force-Ayungin enhances US-Philippine alliance coordination and interoperability by enabling US forces to support Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) activities in the South China Sea,” US Embassy spokesperson Kanishka Gangopadhyay told reporters in a Viber message on Thursday.

“This initiative aligns with multiple lines of cooperation between US and Philippine forces, including the Mutual Defense Board-Security Engagement Board process and the Bantay Dagat framework,” he said noting the task force is an addition to Washington’s “long-standing shared efforts” to maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

Senator Ana Theresia N. Hontiveros-Baraquel welcomed the task force dedicated to Philippine operations in the Second Thomas Shoal, where a beached warship serves as an outpost for Philippine troops.

“This adds to peaceful, non-violent, non-armed but an effective toolkit created by the Philippines which consists of political and diplomatic actions, which we are taking and should be taken to assert the Hague ruling,” Ms. Hontiveros said in mixed English and Filipino at a news briefing on Thursday.

Ms. Hontiveros was referring to the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling in 2016 that said China’s claims had no legal basis, a ruling Beijing rejects.

She added that more countries have also started supporting the Philippines, including the US, some countries in Southeast Asia as well as in the Asia Pacific region.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to reporters’ request for comment via Viber.

China’s coast guard has been blocking and firing water cannons and engaging in dangerous maneuvers that have led to collisions to prevent Philippine vessels from delivering food and other supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era ship that Manila grounded at the shoal in 1999 to bolster its maritime claim.

In an X post after his visit to Manila this week, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III said he had visited a military command and control fusion center in Palawan on Wednesday, along with US troops part of US Task Force-Ayungin.

“America is profoundly committed to the defense of the Philippines. Our commitment to the Mutual Defense Treaty is ironclad…” he said.

Mr. Austin, who is on his fourth visit to Manila, reiterated the ironclad commitment of the US to the Philippines, citing the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty which compels both nations to defend each other in case of an armed attack.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. affirmed this in a “very friendly” and “very productive” phone call with US President Donald J. Trump, adding that the US and the Philippines relations are “as deep as can possibly be because it has been for a very long time.”

US-Philippine ties have reached unprecedented levels under Mr. Biden, with Washington announcing a plan to develop an economic corridor on the main island of Luzon in April following a trilateral meeting among Mr. Marcos, his US counterpart, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Last year, Manila gave Washington access to four more military bases under their 2014 Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

DEFENSE BUDGET
Also on Thursday, Ms. Hontiveros pushed for the restoration of a P10-billion budget cut in the Philippine military modernization plan, which was supposed to get P50 billion next year.

“I really hope we can restore this,” she said. “We need to catch up and attain a credible defense posture through our government and the private sector to reach this self-reliant defense posture.”

“I’m hoping that we can agree on this (restoring P10 billion) with the House panel during the bicameral conference committee.”

The Department of Budget and Management earlier slashed the P50-billion budget by P10 billion for the Revised Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization program in 2025.

The senator noted that the Senate Finance committee report on the P6.325-trillion national budget next year includes an additional P100 million in intelligence fund for the operations of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The PCG earlier said it expects delivery of 10 ships from Japan and France amid Beijing’s continued efforts to block resupply missions at Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.