MANILA, Philippines — Tumulak patungo sa West Philippine Sea ang laksa-laksang sibilyan sakay ng mga bangka para mamahagi ng supplies sa mga Pilipinong mangingisda roon — ito habang iginigiit ang karapatan laban sa pang-aagaw ng Tsina.
Isinagawa ang misyon patungong Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough o Panatag Shoal) ngayong Miyerkules dalawang linggo matapos banggain at bombahin ng tubig ng China Coast Guard ang dalawang Philippine government boats.
“Our mission is peaceful, based on international law and aimed at asserting our sovereign rights,” ani Rafaela David ng grupong Atin Ito bago maglayag para mamigay ng pagkain at krudo sa mga mangingisda.
“We will sail with determination, not provocation, to civilianize the region and safeguard our territorial integrity.”
Sasamahan ng Philippine Coast Guard ang naturang civilian convoy mula Matalbis Port sa Masinloc, Zambales, bagay na nagdadala ng 100 katao sa apat na commercial fishing vessels, ilang maliliiit na outriggers at organizers.
Ito na ang ikalawang civilian-led resupply mission patungong West Philippine Sea, ilang buwan matapos ang misyon noong Disyembre 2023. Magtatagal ang panibagong civilian convoy hanggang Biyernes, ika-17 ng Mayo.
Hindi nagpatinag sina David sa kabila ng ulat na may “heavy presence” ng Chinese vessels malapit sa shoal. Plano rin ng Atin Ito na magladlad ng isang dosenaang buoy na markado ng mga salitang “WPS is ours.”
Ang Panatag Shoal ay nasa loob ng West Philippine Sea, bagay na pasok sa 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ng Pilipinas. Nasa 240 kilometro lang ito kanluran ng Luzon, habang 900 kilometro pa ito sa Hainan, ang pinakamalapit ditong major Chinese landmass.
Gayunpaman, kinuha ito ng Beijing ang kontrol nito mula sa Pilipinas noong 2012. Inaangkin ng Tsina ang halos buong South China Sea, kahit binalewala na ng Permanent Court of Arbitration ang nine-dash line claim ng bansa pabor sa Maynila noong 2016.
Patuloy na itinatalaga ng Tsina ang kanilang coast guard atbp. barko para bantayan ang West Philippine Sea, ha bang ang ilaang bahagi nito ay tinayuan na ng mga artipisyal na islang kanilang minilitarisa.
Kamakailan lang nang ipatawag ng Department of Foreign Affairs si Zhou Zhiyong, na siyang tumatayong “number two” official sa Embahada ng Tsina sa Maynila kaugnay ng April 30 incident. — may mga ulat mula sa Agence France-Presse
COTABATO CITY — Anti-narcotics agents shot dead two drug dealers in a shabu sting that turned awry when they resisted arrest in Barangay Libayuran in Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi on Monday.
Akmad Munib Usman and Gorrie Sajili Usman, both identified with an armed group distributing shabu in seaside barangays in Panglima Sugala and other island municipalities in Tawi-Tawi, died from multiple bullet wounds.
Gil Cesario Castro, director of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said on Wednesday that their agents and personnel of different units of the Tawi-Tawi Provincial Police Office were supposed to detain the duo after selling to them 50 grams of shabu, costing P340,000, but they pulled out guns and opened fire.
The joint PDEA-BARMM and police team involved in the operation returned fire, killing them both.
“In a situation like that, our agents and policemen helping them stage entrapment operations have no way but to fight back to protect themselves,” Castro said.
Three companions of the slain drug dealers had escaped using a small motorized watercraft, according to separate reports released by PDEA-BARMM and the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region on Wednesday.
A team of combined PDEA-BARMM agents and policemen tried to chase the suspects, but their small boat overturned, causing them minor injuries.