US Ally's Escort Vessels to Guard 'Christmas Convoy' Amid Feud With China

The Filipino Coast Guard will escort a volunteer civilian convoy as it sails through parts of the South China Sea that Beijing claims as its territory.

The coast guard will also have the final say over the convoy's activities, one of its organizers said over the weekend, to reduce the risk of conflict in an area where China's maritime forces routinely challenge Philippine ships.

Standoffs and near misses involving Chinese and Filipino forces have intensified in recent months, particularly around Second Thomas Shoal, the site of a deliberately grounded Filipino Navy warship and a potential flashpoint involving Chinese maritime forces and those of Manila's Mutual Defense Treaty ally, the United States.

In an interview published Sunday, Edicio dela Torre told ABS-CBN that the civilian organizers and the Filipino military's Western Command agreed on a clear chain of command, led by the coast guard.

Coast guard and Western Command service people would also embed themselves in civilian boats, he said. Navy vessels would be on standby at a "discreet distance" to keep the operation from seeming too "militaristic."

Asked about the kind of security assurances the group was getting from the Filipino government, dela Torre said: "We will be guided by the [Filipino defense forces'] own intelligence and communication information."

However, he drew a contrast between the convoy organized by the volunteer coalition, called "Atin Ito"—a Tagalog term meaning "it's ours"—and the paramilitary nature of China's maritime militia, which crowds features in the disputed sea in what the Filipino government has labeled swarming.

Newsweek reached out to Atin Ito and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.

"This is a civilian initiative," dela Torre said. "This is not a parallel to the swarm of [China's maritime] militia. We were already told that [China] won't believe it because they don't believe there are independent civilian initiatives that is not project of government because that is the situation on their side."

Aside from bringing Christmas cheer and showing solidarity with the country's military "frontliners," the Atin Ito volunteers hope to convey another message.

"But really the main message is a combination of, well, 'this is ours—Atin Ito,' no? But more important, the responsibility is not just for the side of the government. The citizens must do what we can, dela Torre said.

He added that it was an infrequent occasion when Filipino citizens of different political backgrounds shared a common cause with the government.

"And we must, I think, maximize this opportunity to experience and express that from time to time we Filipinos can get our act together and unite," he said.

Dela Torre told the media outlet last week that it expected at least 40 ships to join what has become known locally as the "Christmas Convoy."

On its website, Atin Ito says it will help distribute food, medicine and other supplies to civilian communities as well as "frontliners" serving in the Filipino armed forces. The group said it also is demonstrating the country's "unwavering commitment to uphold its rights through peaceful, rules-based but resolute means."

The convoy will be allowed to pass through "the general vicinity of Ayungin Shoal [Second Thomas Shoal] as far as practicable" on the way to other features in the area to bring the supplies to troops and fishermen. It will not, however, visit the grounded BRP Sierra Madre, the Filipino National Security Council said in a statement last week.