A convoy of boats carrying Filipino citizens carrying supplies for Filipino fishermen has abandoned plans to sail closer to a Chinese-run reef off the coast of the Southeast Asian country, organizers said Thursday.
The convoy left on Wednesday to distribute fuel and food to fishermen and assert Philippine rights in the disputed South China Sea. The trip comes two weeks after Chinese coast guard ships used water cannon against two Philippine government boats near Scarborough Shoal.
Declaring “mission accomplished,” Emman Hizon, a spokesperson for the Philippine nongovernmental organization Atin Ito, a name that translates to “this is ours,” told reporters on Thursday that an “advance team” was already providing fuel and other aid per day had previously distributed to Filipino fishermen about 46-56 kilometers from the disputed shoal.
