Kalayaan Island Group, Palawan – Nations laying claim to islands in the disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea can exist peacefully if two cays approximately just two kilometers apart were to be the basis.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) patrolling the Kalayaan Group of Islands said there had been no maritime incidents or clashes between Filipino and Vietnamese troops stationed at Parola Island (Northeast Cay) and Pugad Island (Southwest Cay), respectively.
The unifying factor: Sports diplomacy.
“We have very good relations with Vietnam. We are continuously cooperating and coordinating with them. We also have a regular staff-to-staff talk with their navy… Very important yung cooperation ng bawat bansa ay regularly mangyari. Pwede mag-exist without tension or any other violence,” Colonel Joel Bonavente, deputy commander for marine operations of the Western Naval Command, told reporters.
“Every year, we visit their islands and they also visit our islands. We have some friendly games. Some cultural show,” he added.
History is rife with anecdotes – albeit unverified – that that kind of sports diplomacy had a defining role in who ends up occupying the islands.
Soldiers on board BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS17) recount a wartime tale they were told several times and passed on from generations of navy men and marines – some of them ended up in Wikipedia with fact-checking needed – of Filipino troops formerly patrolling Pugad Island who were invited by the Vietnamese to a birthday party or a sportsfest to another island and when they returned to Pugad Island, the Vietnamese already raised a flag there. NewsWatch Plus cannot immediately verify the veracity of these stories.
Journalists who were embedded in this maritime patrol were given a glimpse of how the troops from the two nations co-exist today.
“Ang na-observe lang po namin ay mga minsan nagsa-shadow. Hanggang dun lang. Based on my experiences, wala po aking na-observe na dangerous attempts sa mga barko,” Captain Ellaine Rose Collado, public affairs officer of the Western Naval Command, told a briefing.
Rotational resupply missions to Parola Island had been occuring without interference from the Asian neighbor, she said.
“Basically nandito sila kasi magkatabi ang katabing isla na Vietnam ang nag-ooccupy,” Collado added.
From the fantail or aft of BRP Andres Bonifacio, Parola Island glistened with white sandy beaches. Pugad Island, meanwhile, appeared to have radar towers and other hard installations.
The tension is coming from elsewhere.
“Nagkakaroon minsan ng mga radio challenges lang naman ito but we respond accordingly sa mga standard operating procedure in accordance with the regular or SOP response dito sa West Philippine Sea,” Combat Information Center (CIC) Officer of Patrol Ship 17 Lieutenant Jade Marlon Pontillo said.
