June 15, 2009
NEWS RELEASE
Reference:
Antonio L. Tinio (0920-9220817)
ACT Chairperson
Militant teachers today challenged Malacañang to explain the circumstances surrounding the collision between a U.S. Navy warship and a Chinese submarine in Philippine waters last Friday, June 12.
The incident, first reported by CNN, involved the destroyer USS John McCain. The Chinese submarine collided with an underwater sonar array being towed by the destroyer. A sonar array is a listening device towed behind a ship for underwater surveillance. US officials have described the incident as an “inadvertent encounter.” According to CNN, the collision took place near Subic Bay.
In another news report, an unnamed Philippine Navy commander confirmed that the incident took place inside the area of responsibility of the navy station at Poro Point in La Union, and that ships had been dispatched to investigate the incident. "We are investigating why the Chinese submarine was inside Philippine territorial waters and also why the US vessel was there in the first place," said the unnamed naval officer.
Subsequently, Navy spokesperson Lt. Col. Edgar Arevalo attempted to downplay the incident. In a statement issued on June 13, Arevalo said that “we would like to presume that it didn't happen [in Subic].... We maintained it could have happened in international waters." Arevalo also conceded that he was unaware of any reason why the US warship was operating in the area. “We have no [military] exercise that would justify its presence here.”
“We condemn this US and Chinese naval incursion into sovereign Philippine territorial waters on June 12, the very day that Filipinos commemorate the nation’s independence,” said Alliance of Concerned Teachers national chairperson Antonio Tinio. “We likewise condemn Pres. Gloria Arroyo for choosing to remain silent and doing nothing in the face of this blatant violation of our sovereignty.” The Consitution bans the presence of foreign troops and bases on Philippine territory, unless authorized by treaty.
“The Philippine navy has already admitted that there is no ongoing joint military exercise with the US navy in the area. There is therefore absolutely no justification for the presence of a US warship playing cat-and-mouse with a Chinese submarine off the Subic coast,” said Tinio. “Unfortunately, their spokesperson is already trying to cover-up the incident by speculating that it happened in international waters.”
Tinio said the collision raised a number of issues regarding the presence of foreign military forces in Philippine waters. “What was the US warship doing in the area? Do US forces routinely violate Philippine sovereignty in this way? And what about the Chinese submarine? We demand that Mrs. Arroyo give the public a full explanation. Malacañang should call on US and Chinese diplomats and military officials to explain why their forces were operating in our waters. We likewise call on both house of Congress to conduct a full investigation into the incident. Otherwise this government will once again fail to uphold it’s basic Constitutional duty of defending national sovereignty against foreign military interests.”
ACT reiterated its call for the scrapping of the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement as well as the expulsion of US troops in the Philippines. #
References:
CNN: Sub collides with sonar array towed by U.S. Navy ship http://edition.cnn.com/2009/
Gulfnews: Navy confirms reports of Chinese submarine colliding with US ship http://archive.gulfnews.com/
ABS-CBN News: Navy: US ship, China sub didn’t clash in Subic http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/
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