MANILA - A crumbling World War II-era Philippine navy vessel deliberately grounded on Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal in the late 1990s is deteriorating fast, a senior defense official warned Wednesday, amid calls by China to remove the ship.

Defense Senior Undersecretary Ireneo Espino said the BRP Sierra Madre needs immediate repair following recent re-supply operations.

"The deterioration is faster than the supply that we do to Ayungin. I mean mas mabilis masira,” he said.

This is the reason why the Philippine government continues to conduct rotation and reprovisioning missions to the soldiers on board BRP Sierra Madre despite being stopped by the Chinese militia.

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• MISSION TO AYUNGIN SHOAL: On Board the BRP Sierra Madre

The 100-metre (328-foot) BRP Sierra Madre vessel began its life as the US tank-landing ship USS LST-821, which served in World War II.

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It was later renamed the USS Harnett County and deployed during the Vietnam War, where it was used as a helicopter gunship base, according to the United States Naval Institute.

After the war, it was acquired by the Philippine Navy and later renamed the BRP Sierra Madre.

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The unorthodox tactic to deliberately ground the vessel on the shoal in the 1990s was in response to China's occupation of the nearby and then-uninhabited Mischief Reef, also claimed by Manila, a few years earlier.

Beijing has turned Mischief Reef and other reefs and outcrops into artificial, militarized islands to assert its claims in the waters.

Ayungin Shoal, located in the Spratly Islands, is about 200 kilometers west of the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass of Hainan island.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which includes Ayungin Shoal, and deploys hundreds of vessels there to patrol the waters and swarm reefs.

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Beijing has ignored a 2016 international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Recently, China renewed calls for the Philippines to remove the vessel, saying Manila had reneged on a promise to remove the vessel. This was swiftly denied by top government officials, saying no such promise was made.

• China demands Philippines remove grounded ship from disputed waters
• Philippines denies promising China to remove ship from Ayungin

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Meanwhile, Espino said the Philippine government is focused on the modernization of the Armed Forces. Part of the modernization program is the ongoing procurement of equipment including Navy vessels and aircraft.

"Right now we have already procured some of these navy vessels, aircraft and of course recently the United States had donated an aircraft to the Philippine Air Force," Espino said.

• US turns over new surveillance aircraft to PH Air Force

The defense official said the Philippine government is coordinating with some countries such as the US and Australia regarding maritime activities in the West Philippine Sea.

Asked if the Department of National Defense and the Philippine government have made plans should China declare war due to the issues on the West Philippine Sea, Espino said: "Right now our assumption is that China will not go to war. That is my personal assumption of what is happening." With a report by Jose Carretero, ABS-CBN News, and Agence France-Presse

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