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BRP Sierra Madre deteriorating fast, says DND official

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="This aerial photograph taken from a military aircraft shows the dilapidated Sierra Madre ship of the Philippine Navy anchored near Ayungin shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) with Philippine soldiers on-board to secure the perimeter in the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, on May 11, 2015. The Spratlys are considered a potential Asian flashpoint, and claimant nations including the Philippines have expressed alarm as China has embarked on massive reclamation activity. Ritchie B. Tongo, Pool/AFP " src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/afp/08/08/ayungin-shoal-afp-08082023.jpg"/><figcaption>This aerial photograph taken from a military aircraft shows the dilapidated Sierra Madre ship of the Philippine Navy anchored near Ayungin shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) with Philippine soldiers on-board to secure the perimeter in the Spratly group of islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, on May 11, 2015. The Spratlys are considered a potential Asian flashpoint, and claimant nations including the Philippines have expressed alarm as China has embarked on massive reclamation activity. <em>Ritchie B. Tongo, Pool/AFP</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA - A crumbling World War II-era Philippine navy vessel deliberately grounded on Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal in the late 1990s is deteriorating fast, a senior defense official warned Wednesday, amid calls by China to remove the ship. </p><p>Defense Senior Undersecretary Ireneo Espino said the BRP Sierra Madre needs immediate repair following recent re-supply operations. </p><p>&quot;The deterioration is faster than the supply that we do to Ayungin. I mean mas mabilis masira,” he said.</p><p>This is the reason why the Philippine government continues to conduct rotation and reprovisioning missions to the soldiers on board BRP Sierra Madre despite being stopped by the Chinese militia.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1SXCNYUYGrA?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/specials/sierra-madre">MISSION TO AYUNGIN SHOAL: On Board the BRP Sierra Madre</a></li></ul><p>The 100-metre (328-foot) BRP Sierra Madre vessel began its life as the US tank-landing ship USS LST-821, which served in World War II.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O5RR6OSLehM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>It was later renamed the USS Harnett County and deployed during the Vietnam War, where it was used as a helicopter gunship base, according to the United States Naval Institute.</p><p>After the war, it was acquired by the Philippine Navy and later renamed the BRP Sierra Madre.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="troops" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/06/25/06252022-brp-sierra-madre-gets-fresh-troops-supplies.jpg"/></figure></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S3Pjt6ukWZc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>The unorthodox tactic to deliberately ground the vessel on the shoal in the 1990s was in response to China&#x27;s occupation of the nearby and then-uninhabited Mischief Reef, also claimed by Manila, a few years earlier.</p><p>Beijing has turned Mischief Reef and other reefs and outcrops into artificial, militarized islands to assert its claims in the waters.</p><p>Ayungin Shoal, located in the Spratly Islands, is about 200 kilometers west of the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China&#x27;s nearest major landmass of Hainan island.</p><p>China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which includes Ayungin Shoal, and deploys hundreds of vessels there to patrol the waters and swarm reefs.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RKkfjEKJVLM?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Beijing has ignored a 2016 international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.</p><p>Recently, China renewed calls for the Philippines to remove the vessel, saying Manila had reneged on a promise to remove the vessel. This was swiftly denied by top government officials, saying no such promise was made. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/08/23/china-demands-ph-remove-grounded-ship-from-ayungin-shoal">China demands Philippines remove grounded ship from disputed waters</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/09/23/philippines-denies-promising-china-to-leave-ayungin">Philippines denies promising China to remove ship from Ayungin</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9jkOLZf-GM" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>Meanwhile, Espino said the Philippine government is focused on the modernization of the Armed Forces. Part of the modernization program is the ongoing procurement of equipment including Navy vessels and aircraft.</p><p>&quot;Right now we have already procured some of these navy vessels, aircraft and of course recently the United States had donated an aircraft to the Philippine Air Force,&quot; Espino said.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The new Cessna-208B Grand Caravan intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft turned over by the United States to the Philippine Air Force. Bianca Dava, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/09/19/20230919-cessna-208b-grand-caravan.jpg"/><figcaption>The new Cessna-208B Grand Caravan intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft turned over by the United States to the Philippine Air Force. <em>Bianca Dava, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/19/23/us-turns-over-new-surveillance-aircraft-to-ph-air-force">US turns over new surveillance aircraft to PH Air Force</a></li></ul><p>The defense official said the Philippine government is coordinating with some countries such as the US and Australia regarding maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea.</p><p>Asked if the Department of National Defense and the Philippine government have made plans should China declare war due to the issues on the West Philippine Sea, Espino said: &quot;Right now our assumption is that China will not go to war. That is my personal assumption of what is happening.&quot; With a report by Jose Carretero, ABS-CBN News, and Agence France-Presse</p><div><br/><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7J1LiLvZ2yc?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

A crumbling World War II-era Philippine navy vessel deliberately grounded on Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal in the late 1990s is deteriorating fast, a senior defense official warned Wednesday, amid calls by China to remove the ship. 