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BRP Sierra Madre/Ayungin Shoal; News | Discussions | Updates
Topic Started: May 19 2013, 02:22 AM (16,997 Views)
AZKALS
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Sierra Madre: Potential Flashpoint?

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/insight/sierra-madre-potential/1066896.html

Sierra Madre, a rusting Philippine Navy ship aground on the Second Thomas Shoal, South China Sea. China uses its nine-dash line map to say its theirs. Manila wants the court in The Hague to decide but Beijing says no.


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ganymede09
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I came across this report just now... i dont think this had been posted here before, and has this been reported by any of our local media? If not, could be another PROC propaganda story.
link

Reporters get 'Welcome to China' text on Second Thomas Shoal

Chang Kuo-wei and Staff Reporter
2014-04-05
Want China Times

The Philippines has adopted tougher measures to assert its sovereignty claim over the disputed Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, known as Ayungin Shoal to the Philippines and Renai Reef to China. Reporters visiting the shoal were greeted however by the Chinese-language text message "Welcome to China" sent to their phones by a Chinese telecom operator.

Manila has deployed a detachment of marines to a beached World War II-era tank-landing ship which serves as a military outpost on the reef in the Spratly islands, some 194 kilometers west of the Philippines' western province of Palawan, and has taken the territorial dispute to the International Court for arbitration, a move which Beijing has strongly condemned.

When journalists sailed to the reef aboard Philippine fishing boats, they all received the "Welcome to China" text. China Mobile, one of the "big three" telecom operators in China, confirmed that the messages were sent to several smartphones belonging to Philippine nationals who connected to its network from the islet on March 29. Their phones were registered to a Philippine telecom operator and dozens of calls were made and messages sent from the shoal. The operator has been investigating these calls, reports People's Daily..... (cont'd.)
LET'S RAISE OUR MIDDLE FINGERs TO THE MIDDLE KINGDOM.
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Pninety8
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AFP uses couriers to foil China spies
Quote:
 

MANILA, Philippines - The Armed Forces of the Philippines knows China is snooping on it so it has taken countermeasures to protect the country's military secrets, though stopping short of adopting the Russian strategy of eschewing the Internet and clacking away on old but ever-reliable typewriters to communicate.

In AFP offices handling the Philippines' territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, cell phones are banned and there is no Internet connection. Communication is never sent by e-mail but printed out from computers and hand-delivered.

For good measure, USB ports are not used.

Another countermeasure is speaking in codes or using difficult regional dialects instead of the national language or English.

The first time I met my source for this story, he asked me to keep my cell phone in my bag. The next time we met, he took my phone and put it on the table back side up.

Both were strategies intended to muffle the phone's speaker.

Aside from foiling the eavesdroppers, the military is also on the lookout for traditional spies, the source said. Some pose as businessmen, vendors or even fishermen, he said.

Traditional spies and communication intercepts may have been used in the Chinese attempt to thwart the Philippine Navy's resupply mission to the Marine garrison on Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea on March 29.

Mission 'compromised'

That mission was "compromised," as there were telltale signs of intercepted communication and traditional spies on the ground, the source said.

"Had the US Navy planes not made low passes over your ship and the Sierra Madre, the China Coast Guard could have been more aggressive in blocking you and kept you from getting to Ayungin Shoal," the source said, requesting anonymity for lack of authority to talk to reporters about military operational details.

....

The China Coast Guard had blocked other resupply missions, limiting the military to aerial drops to resupply the Sierra Madre garrison.
The Inquirer source said three days before the Ayungin mission, an area off Palawan province that the Navy maintains for operations on the Spratly Islands lost all its communication signals, from cell phones to the Internet, even if there were no disruptions at all on the mainland.

....

The Chinese also knew which vessel to block, the source said. There were other fishing boats in the area around the time of the mission, but the China Coast Guard did not harass those vessels.

"They knew that your vessel was the one that left the military’s jump-off point. We surmised that they were actually waiting for two Philippine ships, that was why only the CCG (China Coast Guard vessel) 3401 blocked you. It seemed that the other Coast Guard ship was waiting for the other Philippine vessel," the source said.

....

But the US Navy aircraft that appeared to be P-8 Poseidons were perhaps the most potent countermeasure against China.

A Navy officer manning the fisheries vessel of the resupply mission said in an interview with ABS-CBN that he found the presence of the Poseidons comforting, knowing they were “our friends.”

...
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dewey
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metro aide sweeper

shouldnt we just be quiet about this?
IDI@T!!! COWARD!!!
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AZKALS
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AFP Airdrops Supplies, Letters to Troops on Ayungin Shoal

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/359464/news/nation/afp-airdrops-supplies-letters-to-troops-on-ayungin

May 3, 2014 4:53pm

The Armed Forces of the Philippines airdropped food, water, and other supplies on Saturday to soldiers stationed on the country's outpost on the disputed Ayungin Shoal — the grounded Philippine Navy transport ship BRP Sierra Madre.The AFP said a Navy airplane dropped a package that contained fast food, bottled water, assorted bread, canned goods, magazines, and letters of encouragement from students on Saturday morning.The package also included a note from General Emmanuel Bautista, AFP chief of staff, for the soldiers aboard BRP Sierra Madre.The note reads: "Hold the Line!" and is signed by "Manny Sundalo".

The AFP said the idea to drop off supplies came from concerned citizens and civic groups who "wanted to show their support to our soldiers who spend between three to six months guarding our detachment in Ayungin Shoal.""The AFP is doing all it can to support and uplift the morale of our troops assigned in one of the remotest military posts within our territory. Little comforts being sent to our troops is always welcome and will surely have a positive effect on their commitment to defend what is ours," it added.The Ayungin Shoal (also known as Second Thomas Reef) and the Mischief Reef (claimed by the Philippine as Panganiban Reef) both lie in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

Posted Image
Fast Food, Water, Magazines, and Letters for Troops Stationed on the Sierra Madre (Handout photo)


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Hong Nam
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Bought by China

PH Navy airdrops supplies for Ayungin troops
Carmel Fonbuena
May 03, 2014



Posted ImageWORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT: Students write letters for the troops in Ayungin Shoal. Photo from Western Command


MANILA, Philippines – A Philippine Navy Islander aircraft airdropped on Saturday, May 3, supply bundles for troops stationed at the disputed Ayungin Shoal a month after the tense rotation and resupply mission last March.

"About 9:15 today, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) executed a supply bundle drop for our soldiers currently aboard BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal," the military said in a statement.



Rappler


Edited by Hong Nam, May 3 2014, 08:41 PM.

Posted Image
Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie - C Sword 90



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dewey
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metro aide sweeper

imagine if we already have those 3 twin otter seaplane ( :armyroleyes: ), these resupply will be less of a hassle. not to mention the changing of the guards. maybe grp buy 1 of those, even a used 1 for a start? there is a need. and those gallant marines need all the support they can get. i dont think anybody will disagree :ssalute:
IDI@T!!! COWARD!!!
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Hong Nam
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Bought by China

dewey
May 3 2014, 09:48 PM
imagine if we already have those 3 twin otter seaplane ( :armyroleyes: ), these resupply will be less of a hassle. not to mention the changing of the guards. maybe grp buy 1 of those, even a used 1 for a start? there is a need. and those gallant marines need all the support they can get. i dont think anybody will disagree :ssalute:

Yes... But just you wait till someone here comes back from hibernation.

- then he/she/it will claim that corrosion, poor track record of your air-forces maintenance history, and of course other countries not investing on seaplanes (why should you??) stand - to shorten the tirade... claim them to be a waste of funds.

Altogether forgetting that these seaplanes can perform SAR and maritime patrol as well.
:headbang:



Then the party can resume. :lollol:


Edited by Hong Nam, May 3 2014, 10:13 PM.

Posted Image
Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie - C Sword 90



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dewey
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metro aide sweeper

:lollol: hong

he wont come back...maybe till he cant bear it anymore

logic here is very obvious. this is almost a national emergency with lots of what ifs regarding ayungin. and those what ifs can surely be answered by this aircraft. not to mention the comeback of the aircraft type is imminent with the bidding for 3 underway, whether he likes it or not :devilwink:

maybe viking air can provide us with a single used twin otter, test drive maybe?
IDI@T!!! COWARD!!!
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MSantor
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PDFF Mod Group
More about the letters of encouragement mentioned above:

Interaksyon

Quote:
 
HOLD THE LINE! | Letters from youth, 'Manny Sundalo' air-dropped for Ayungin Shoal Marines
By: InterAksyon.com
May 3, 2014 2:04 PM

MANILA – It was an idea first hatched by a group of citizens who wanted the brave Marines guarding the Philippines’ so-called last frontier of sovereignty at Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea to know their efforts are well appreciated. So on Saturday morning, the Armed Forces obliged and air-dropped their letters, along with supplies, on the BRP Sierra Madre, the rusting Navy ship housing the Marine contingent, along with a remarkable letter from one “Manny Sundalo.”

The “Manny Sundalo” is no less than the Chief of Staff, Emmanuel Bautista, who became the darling of social media after advocate and netizen Gang Badoy wrote about her text exchange with a man she thought was a low-ranking officer, badgering him to help the victims of a fatal bus crash in Benguet province two months ago. On learning that the man she harassed but who remained cool and humble and polite was no less than the military’s chief of staff, Badoy named him Manny Sundalo.

The note from General Bautista sent to the soldiers aboard BRP Sierra Madre Saturday morning read: “Hold the Line!” and was signed “Manny Sundalo”.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines executed the supply bundle drop for the soldiers aboard BRP Sierra Madre about 9:15 a.m.

Using the Philippine Navy’s Islander aircraft, the AFP dropped a package that contained fast food, bottled water, assorted bread, canned goods, magazines, and letters of encouragement to our soldiers written by students.


(...EDITED)
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." - Henry Ford

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."
- Winston Churchill


"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking"- Gen. George S. Patton
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