P-Noy wants US spy plane help in China dispute

Manila, Philippines -  President Aquino may soon ask the United States to deploy spy planes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) to help monitor the disputed waters, a move that could reignite tensions with its giant neighbor China.

“We might be requesting overflights on that,” Aquino said, referring to US P3C Orion spy planes. “We don’t have aircraft with those capabilities.”

The President ordered the pullout last month of a lightly armed Coast Guard ship and a fisheries boat due to bad weather around a group of rock formations about 140 miles (225 km) west of the main Philippine island of Luzon, ending a two-month standoff between the two sides.

But there were reports that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will go back to the disputed area to secure Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal and will be assisted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

PCG commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan welcomed reports that the AFP would be assisting them, saying he sees no conflict working alongside them at Panatag Shoal, which is located 124 nautical miles off Zambales province.

He added that coordination between the two government agencies should be intensified not only at the Panatag but in other parts of the country as well.

Tan said there is “no problem with that. It would be better if both the Navy and PCG would support each other in helping secure the fishermen not only in Panatag Shoal but in all other areas of the country.”

The PCG chief said they still have to discuss with the Navy the details of the assistance.

Filipino fishermen are expected to return to the shoal once the fishing ban has been lifted on July 15.

Since April 10, the Philippines has been in a standoff with China as both countries claim ownership of Panatag Shoal.

The Philippine government argued that the disputed area is within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone as provided by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Another US ship docks in Subic

Meanwhile, a US hospital ship docked at the Subic Bay Freeport yesterday to participate in a medical and humanitarian mission in the Asia-Pacific region.

The USNS Mercy is the US Navy’s premier and state-of-the-art hospital ship, one of two in its fleet. The US Military Sealift Command maintains both ships, whose personnel don’t carry any destructive weapons.

The primary mission of the Mercy is to provide and support the rapid mobile medical and surgical treatment to air and ground combatants of Army and Air Force personnel deployed in the war zone.

The hospital ship also provides mobile medical and surgical hospital for the appropriate US government agencies in disaster and humanitarian activities.

The Mercy has 12 operating rooms, an intensive-care unit with 80 beds, four modern x-ray equipment, a physical therapy center, computerized tomography scan unit, dental clinic, angiography clinic, eye laboratory, two oxygen-producing rooms, blood bank and 1,000 regular medical beds and can accommodate 200 patients per day.

The Mercy is scheduled for port call in the Philippines for the Pacific Partnership 2012 (PP12), an annual US Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance mission.

It joined the recently concluded PP12, the largest joint humanitarian mission in the Pacific, which was held from June 18 to 30, involving the US, Philippines, Thailand, Australia, Malaysia, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Korea, Chile, Peru and the Netherlands.

The humanitarian mission covered Catbalogan City, Calbayog City and the towns of Silanga, Gandara, Carayman, Veriato, Malaga, and San Isidro.

The province of Samar, a disaster-prone province, benefited from the mission’s medical assistance, veterinary and dental assistance programs.

Military engineers from the Philippines and the US also conducted engineering assistance projects that involved the construction of schools and health centers.

More than 16,000 residents received assistance from the humanitarian mission.

Now on its seventh year, Pacific Partnership brings together US military personnel, host and partner nations, non-government organizations and international agencies to build stronger relationships and develop disaster response capabilities throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

The PP12, the largest joint humanitarian mission in the Asia-Pacific, stemmed from humanitarian initiatives following the tsunami that hit Indonesia in 2004 which killed more than 200,000 people.

USNS Mercy was built as an oil tanker by National Steel Co. of San Diego, California in 1976. She was renamed and converted to a hospital and launched on July 20, 1985 and commissioned on Nov. 8, 1986. 

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos Jr. said the Mercy will remain in the area until July 7.

“(The visit is) for routine ship replenishment, maintenance of shipboard systems and crew liberty,” Burgos said, emphasizing that the visit is not related to the Panatag Shoal dispute.

The Mercy docking came eight days after the nuclear-powered US submarine USS Louisville made a port call in Subic. – Alexis Romero, Evelyn Macairan, Bebot Sison