Zubiri says China may be mapping PH underwater terrain using drone

Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri believes China is now actively mapping the Philippines’ underwater terrain, flagging it as a national security concern.
Speaking to reporters in a press conference on Friday, Zubiri said he was told by maritime experts when he was still a Senate p resident that China is not only mapping out the Philippines’ underwater terrain in the West Philippine Sea but other countries’ territories as well.
“This is worrying. They are doing this not only [in the Philippines]. I was told, when I was [still] a Senate president, that we had monthly briefings by the National Security Agency and our allies in different countries who helped us in our struggle to keep our waters open for freedom of navigation,” said Zubiri in a mix of Filipino and English.
“They told us that China is now actively mapping out our underwater terrain, not only in the West Philippine Sea, [but also] Malacca Strait. They [are also] trying to go to the territories of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines,” he added partly in Filipino.
According to Zubiri, China wants to know the situation aground, from and the underwater passages as it could be helpful should a war erupt.
Article continues after this advertisement“That’s why I am presuming, personally, that they are using these drones to map out underwater terrain within the Philippine territory. That’s what’s worrying. That is a national security concern,” he emphasized.
Article continues after this advertisementZubiri’s remarks came after an underwater drone with Chinese markings was recovered in the waters off San Pascual town in Masbate.
National Defense Undersecretary Ignacio Madriaga previously confirmed that the equipment can gather information for commercial, scientific, and military use.
For his part, the former Senate president also underscored that the discovery of such should not be taken lightly as China would also not take it lightly if they were to discover underwater drones in their territory.
READ: US to help examine drone found off Masbate
“It’s [an] intrusion into their territorial waters, so let’s split the coin. If that happened to them, they would not agree, I think, to this incident. Unfortunately, they are not claiming ownership of these drones, but when our experts looked at them, they were made in China. Very clear,” said Zubiri partly in Filipino.
“So [this] is really a violation of the country’s territorial integrity. I think that’s definitely worrying. Because what these drones are doing, I am sure they are mapping out Philippine underwater terrain [and] where their submarines can infiltrate,” he added.
Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it has yet to receive a message from any country claiming ownership of the submersible.