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Fishermen in the West Philippine Sea gather at a rendevous point with civilian mission Atin Ito to receive food and fuel on May 15, 2024. ABS-CBN News

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Atin Ito

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/171582647013120240515-aitn-ito-wps-mission-2.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Fishermen in the West Philippine Sea gather at a rendevous point with civilian mission Atin Ito to receive food and fuel on May 15, 2024. ABS-CBN News "/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left"><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(51, 51, 51);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:left;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:pre-wrap;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">Fishermen in the West Philippine Sea gather at a rendevous point with civilian mission Atin Ito to receive food and fuel on May 15, 2024. <em>ABS-CBN News</em></span><em> </em></span></span></span></div><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">MANILA -- A convoy of boats carrying Philippine civilians bearing supplies for Filipino fishers has abandoned plans to sail closer to a China-held reef off the Southeast Asian country, organizers said Thursday.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The convoy set sail Wednesday to distribute fuel and food to fishers and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. The trip comes two weeks after China Coast Guard vessels used water cannon against two Philippine government boats near Scarborough Shoal.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Atin Ito (&quot;This Is Ours&quot;) coalition spokesman Emman Hizon declared &quot;Mission accomplished&quot;, telling reporters Thursday that an &quot;advance team&quot; had already distributed fuel and other assistance to Filipino fishermen a day earlier about 46-56 kilometers from the disputed shoal. </p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/16/tagumpay-ph-advance-team-avoids-china-s-blockade-reaches-bajo-de-masinloc-844" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tagumpay! PH advance team avoids China&#x27;s blockade, reaches Bajo de Masinloc</a></div><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;Atin Ito will now proceed to conduct the final leg of supply distribution in the current area, as there are no more Filipino fishers in BdM,&quot; he said, using the acronym for the shoal also known to Filipinos as Bajo de Masinloc.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">Hizon said in a message to reporters that the group had received reports its advance team was later &quot;sent away by various Chinese vessels&quot;.</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3037858"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The Chinese foreign ministry had warned the convoy on Wednesday against any attempt to infringe on Beijing&#x27;s &quot;indisputable sovereignty&quot; over Scarborough Shoal.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">An aerial reconnaissance flight saw 19 Chinese vessels including a warship and eight coast guard vessels patrolling around the shoal on Wednesday, the Philippine Coast Guard said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/5/15/coast-guard-plane-spots-chinese-ships-near-scarborough-1736" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Coast Guard plane spots Chinese ships near Scarborough</a></div><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The Filipino aid convoy, comprising four wooden-hulled fishing boats and a coast guard escort, was about 108 kilometers southeast of Scarborough Shoal at 6:00 a.m. </p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">It was being tracked by a nearby China Coast Guard vessel, the Philippine Coast Guard said.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">&quot;Despite China&#x27;s massive blockade, we managed to breach their illegal blockade, reaching Bajo de Masinloc to support our fishers with essential supplies,&quot; the head of the coalition, Rafaela David, said in a statement.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The Scarborough Shoal has been a potential flashpoint since Beijing seized it from Manila in 2012.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">The fish-rich reef is about 240 kilometers west of the Philippines&#x27; main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometers from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">China claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims by the Philippines and other countries, and ignoring an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.</p><p style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px;border:0px;-webkit- text-size-adjust:100%;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:normal;color:rgb(0, 0, 0);orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;background-color:rgb(255, 255, 255);text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial">To press its claims, Beijing deploys coast guard and other boats to patrol the waterway and has turned several reefs into artificial islands that it has militarized.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/13/china-urges-philippines-to-stop-making-irresponsible-remarks-on-south-china-sea-dispute-1712" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Stop making irresponsible remarks on South China Sea</a></div><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>A convoy of boats carrying Philippine civilians bearing supplies for Filipino fishers has abandoned plans to sail closer to a China-held reef off the Southeast Asian country, organisers said Thursday.</p>

A convoy of boats carrying Philippine civilians bearing supplies for Filipino fishers has abandoned plans to sail closer to a China-held reef off the Southeast Asian country, organisers said Thursday.

Philippine boat convoy won't proceed to China-held reef: organizers

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Philippine boat convoy won't proceed to China-held reef: organizers

Agence France-Presse

Published May 16, 2024 10:34 AM PHT

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China

West Philippine Sea

South China Sea

Scarborough

Bajo De Masinloc

Atin Ito

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