BAGUIO — The United States has offered to escort Manila's resupply missions to outposts in the disputed South China Sea, but the Philippines will not take up the offer until it is unable to deliver live-saving provisions and troops were 'on the verge of dying,' Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said Thursday.

'We're happy that the US has given us a range of options including that of joining or escorting us for the ROREs (rotation and resupply missions),' Brawner told a news conference after meeting with US Indo-Pacific commander Adm. Samuel Paparo in the northern city of Baguio.