PHILIPPINES-CHINA-MARITIME-DIPLOMACY-MILITARY

TO GO WITH AFP STORY PHILIPPINES-CHINA-MARITIME-DIPLOMACY-MILITARY, FOCUS BY JASON GUTIERREZ In this photo taken March 31, 2014, Philippine Marine Lieutenant First Class Mike Pelotera stands to attention with his 8 colleagues before receiving bronze cross medals after a five month mission manning the Philippines' remote outpost on the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed Spratlys Island in the South China Sea, at the Naval Headquarters in Palawan. Nine hungry marines guarding the Philippines loneliest outpost aboard a rusted World War II vessel had just one option after Chinese vessels blocked fresh supplies from reaching them -- go fishing. The troops were 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the nearest major Philippine island, holding on to a tiny reef in the South China Sea as part of a decades-long territorial row that in recent months had grown increasingly hostile. AFP PHOTO / Jay DIRECTO (Photo credit should read JAY DIRECTO/AFP via Getty Images)