SUMMARY
In the coastal town of Rizal in Palawan, under the cover of darkness, four Navy boats prepared to sail. It was June 17, probably past midnight, and they were going on a mission to replace the personnel on board the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal as well as replenish supplies.
Jeffrey Facundo, underwater operator of the elite Naval Special Operations Command (Navsocom), and his team – ten of them in two rigid hull inflatable boats or RHIB – were with other servicemen in two aluminum patrol coastal crafts.
It was a mission of firsts under the Marcos administration, starting from the takeoff point. For one thing, the Rotation and Resupply mission or RORE set off from the town of Rizal. (Usually, it is the Escoda Shoal, internationally known as Sabina Shoal.) It would also be t…