AFP completes 5th resupply mission to Ayungin Shoal without 'untoward incidents'

Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!

Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.

Visit Suniway.ph to learn

March 5, 2025 | 12:18pm

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines successfully delivered fresh provisions and rotated troops manning the BRP Sierra Madre on Tuesday, March 4 — the fifth consecutive activity without "untoward incidents."

The mission delivered essential supplies and rotated personnel stationed at the grounded vessel that serves as the Philippines' outpost in Ayungin Shoal.

"The Armed Forces of the Philippines, in resolute commitment to maintaining its presence and operational readiness in the West Philippine Sea, completed a routine troop rotation and resupply mission at BRP Sierra Madre stationed at Ayungin Shoal on 04 March 2025," the AFP said in a statement on Wednesday, March 5.

"This RORE was executed in close coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard and was completed with no untoward incident," it added.

AFP Spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said "several" Chinese vessels were monitored in the area while the Philippine vessels were en route to BRP Sierra Madre. But the rotation and reprovisioning mission was still completed "without confrontation or untoward incident."

According to the AFP, four previous missions conducted on July 27, September 27, November 15, and January 24 were also completed without the harassment of Chinese vessels that characterized earlier resupply missions to the outpost. 

The successful delivery of provisions to Filipino troops at BRP Sierra Madre comes after the Philippines and China struck a "provisional arrangement" last year that aimed to de-escalate tensions around Ayungin Shoal — a feature within the Philippines' 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

China claims nearly the entire South China Sea despite a 2016 ruling that invalidated its nine-dash line claim has no legal basis.