Photo credit: AFP

Last May 19, the China Coast Guard (CCG) undertook a controversial paradrop mission near the BRP Sierra Madre stationed at Ayungin Shoal, seizing and subsequently dumping food supplies intended for Filipino troops.

Photographs capturing the incident reveal floating packages, debunking China's narrative of dropping construction materials.

In response to the incident, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. expressed disbelief, stating, "Siguro, naghahanap sila ng construction materials, but it was just a small package enough to carry food items and float on the water." He criticized the lack of common sense exhibited by the CCG, emphasizing the impracticality of airdropping construction materials.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, spokesperson for the Philippine Navy in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), echoed similar sentiments, emphasizing the absence of logic in China's actions. "Their narrative is that they do the blocking because of construction materials; I would like to point out that they have zero common sense. You will see that what appears are all food stuff," Commodore Trinidad remarked.