PH Navy monitors 48 Chinese vessels across West PH Sea features

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Navy said on Tuesday that it monitored at least 48 Chinese vessels across four key areas of the West Philippine Sea this week.

Navy spokesperson Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City that the latest monitoring at Panatag Shoal detected 11 Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels and 10 People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) warships.

Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal, is about 220 kilometers from Luzon in the West Philippine Sea, well within the country’s exclusive economic zone. Much of the area remains under Beijing’s control following a 2012 standoff with the Philippine Navy.

At Ayungin Shoal, Trinidad said the Navy detected 12 CCG vessels. The low-tide elevation is located 194 km off Palawan.

Escoda Shoal, meanwhile, had three PLA-N and five CCG ships. The feature lies 195 km west of Palawan.

READ: West Philippine Sea: Navy spots 20 Chinese vessels in early December 

At Pag-asa Island, the country’s largest inhabited outpost in the Spratlys, the Navy monitored two PLA-N warships and five CCG vessels. The island is about 528 km west of Palawan.

The Navy also monitored 19,655 vessels transiting the Philippines’ maritime domain, including 16,670 domestic ships and 2,985 foreign vessels.

Trinidad said 16,098 of the total responded to radio challenges, while 3,557 did not.

READ: AFP steps up Malampaya patrols after new gas find

Most vessels were tracked in the northern area of responsibility, with 7,639, followed by Western Mindanao (4,366), the western seaboard (3,990), Southern Luzon (2,482), and Eastern Mindanao (1,178).

“These figures reflect the AFP’s steadfast commitment to safeguarding national territory, sovereignty, and sovereign rights,” Trinidad said. /mcm