MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro clarified that its “provisional arrangement” with her Chinese counterpart on rotation and resupply (RORE) missions to the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal was merely an “information exchange.”
She made the explanation on Thursday as she faced the House appropriations committee that was deliberating on her department’s proposed budget for 2027.
Lazaro told lawmakers that the deal had no prejudice to the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea.
“This is just an information exchange,” she said. “There is no permission that is being asked.”
READ: DFA: Ayungin deal does not require China’s approval for PH missions
RORE missions resupplies troops stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II-era warship intentionally run aground in Ayungin Shoal in 1999 to bolster the Philippines’ claims over the territory.
Under the provisional agreement, the Armed Forces of the Philippines – Western Command would determine when a RORE mission would be conducted.
The Western Command should notify DFA of the mission, and the DFA will, in turn, inform the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Lazaro.
“We just exchange information that there is such boat[s] or vehicle[s] that will be going to that area, and they (Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will tell us also which vessels will be present during that time,” she told lawmakers.
Lazaro explained that the arrangement stemmed from a June 2024 incident in which a Filipino soldier’s finger had been severed during a confrontation with Chinese vessels at the shoal.
She maintained that, since 2024, at least 16 RORE missions had proceeded “without incident.”
Nonetheless, at the hearing, Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office Executive Director Rogelio Villanueva Jr. noted that the DFA has filed 296 diplomatic protests since 2022, about encounters with China.
Thirty-nine of the protests were filed in 2026.
“We have to understand also that results on the ground may take time,” Villanueva explained.
“While diplomacy is the bigger tool in the government’s toolbox, we have to work in tandem with the other government agencies, particularly our security agencies, our National Maritime Council, because this is whole-of-government,” he added.
DFA is seeking from Congress a budget of P35 billion for next year. /apl
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