Chinese warship confronts PH aircraft in Bajo de Masinloc

MANILA, Philippines — A Chinese Navy warship challenged a Philippine aircraft during a routine patrol near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in Zambales on Monday morning.

And for the first time, officials aboard Philippine vessels suspect possible signal jamming by China after Starlink signals repeatedly dropped in the area.

These pieces of information come from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG). 

In a Zoom interview, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the agency’s Coast Guard Islander departed Manila around 7 a.m. for a maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight after monitoring a large number of Filipino fishing boats near the shoal.

“When we conducted the MDA flight, we monitored three China Coast Guard vessels at a distance of 33.6 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc,” Tarriela said.

“It is also worth noting that when we reached approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy warship had already challenged our flight,” he reported.

“It was a PLA Navy warship with bow number 554. The patrol concluded around 11 a.m., and that was the entirety of the MDA flight,” he added. 

Tarriela noted that besides the aircraft, the PCG also deployed the BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) and monitored the voyage of BRP Gabriela Silang (OPV-8301), which was proceeding to Bajo de Masinloc to support the “Kadiwa para sa Bagong Bayaning Mangingisda” program of the national government.

He further disclosed that 35 Filipino fishing boats received fuel subsidies during the patrol.

After describing the encounter with the PLA Navy vessel, Tarriela also raised concerns about possible electronic interference, observing that Starlink connections aboard Philippine vessels repeatedly dropped whenever they approached the shoal.

“I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that Starlink connections aboard the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ vessels, and even the Philippine Coast Guard vessel MRRV-4409, have been repeatedly lost,” he said.

“We believe this may be due to signal jamming by the People’s Republic of China,” the PCG official suspected. 

“This occurs consistently whenever our vessels approach or enter the 24-nautical-mile range near Bajo de Masinloc, which is when our Starlink signals disappear,” he explained. 

Beijing’s continued aggression is based on its assertion of sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea.

It continues to reject the 2016 arbitral ruling that effectively dismissed China’s claims and ruled in favor of Manila. /apl