Statement of Senator Joel Villanueva on the call of China for the Philippines to remove the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal
Trespassers have no right to issue an eviction order. Ayungin Shoal is part of the continental shelf that is 104 nautical miles from the archipelagic baseline of Palawan and thus within our country’s 200-nautical mile EEZ under UNCLOS.
"Eventually, the sea will be BRP Sierra Madre’s final resting place. But no way should it be the graveyard of our sovereignty."
Our ship has been there since 1999. To argue otherwise is to suffer from historical amnesia and geographical ignorance.
Sierra Madre, the ship, is a fixture as immovable as Sierra Madre, the mountain range. Eventually, the sea will be BRP Sierra Madre’s final resting place. But no way should it be the graveyard of our sovereignty.