Lawmaker suggests air dropping supplies during missions to Ayungin Shoal

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 11) — Cagayan de Oro 2nd dist. Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said authorities should consider delivering supplies via airdrop in a bid to stop exposing civilian boats to danger during resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal.

“Let’s end this practice," Rodriguez said on Saturday. «I do not see the rationale for using civilian boats and crew in delivering supplies to our soldiers whose presence in that remote part of the West Philippine Sea symbolizes our national sovereignty and territorial integrity there.»

He added that assets of the Air Force and Navy could be used in these missions.

“The danger Air Force and Navy personnel would face in those missions is the same as that civilian boat crew have to contend," Rodriguez pointed out.

«But unlike civilians who are just doing a civic duty, it is the responsibility of the military to resupply our troops in Ayungin and protect our country’s national sovereignty and territory,” he added.

Rodriguez's statement comes after a Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) fired a water cannon at a Philippine vessel in an attempt to block a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre, which is grounded in Ayungin Shoal.

The country has filed a diplomatic protest over the incident. This is the 125th diplomatic protest filed during the Marcos administration.

Rodriguez added that the country's allies could be asked to take part in the air drops and military videographers and photographers could document the resupply missions.

Other lawmakers continued to condemn the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea.

»In this latest incident, we again see China as a bully: using size and brute strength to illegally encroach upon our EEZ and enforce a baseless right to drive away our protectors," said Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri.

He added that despite the latest action by the CCG, it would not stop the Navy and Philippine Coast Guard from protecting the country's exclusive economic zone.

'We remind the Chinese Coast Guard that no amount of aggression can undo the fact that the Chinese government’s claims to the WPS have already been invalidated by the Permanent Court of Arbitration," he said.

Senators JV Ejercito and