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MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday debunked claims that a tugboat had towed the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.

Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesman for the West Philippine Sea (WPS), said the Philippine Navy (PN) and the AFP monitored the presence of a tugboat on Monday but said it was neither “a cause for alarm” nor reason to believe that the rusting but still standing Philippine military outpost in the disputed reef could be towed just like that.

‘It would take more than a tug boat to tow the BRP Sierra Madre,” Trinidad said on Tuesday.

“Our assessment is that this would be for their own use in the event that they would need to tug any of the ships that would run aground in the shallow portion of Ayungin Shoal,” Trinidad said.

BRP Sierra Madre is a World War II US landing ship originally known as USS LST-821 that was transferred to the Philippine government in the ‘70s after serving in the Vietnam war.

In 1999, it was purposely run aground in Ayungin Shoal to establish Philippine military presence and affirm its territorial claims in the Spratly Islands, a WPS feature claimed by China.

Although obviously dilapidated, the 328-feet ship is firmly marooned on the Ayungin reef and is almost impossible to move.

AFP: It would take more than a tugboat to tow BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin Shoal