Tests show underwater drones found in PH likely from China

ORIGIN UNKNOWN A submersible drone found in San Pascual town in Masbate on Jan. 1, 2025, is one of five recovered in the country’s waters. Three have undergone forensic investigation to determine their origin. —Contributed photo

MANILA, Philippines — Three of the underwater drones recovered in Philippine waters may have been deployed by China to map the country’s seabed, authorities said on Tuesday.

Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said these were the results of the forensic investigations done on three of five drones.

“There is a 55 to 80 percent likelihood that these were deployed by the Chinese Communist Party,” Trinidad said at a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City. “Why 55 to 80 percent? It is because of the components inside.”

According to him, the results were based on an analyses of the submersible drones found in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, in July 2022; Calayan Island in August 2024; and Initao, Misamis Oriental, in October 2024.

READ: DND exec: Drone found in Masbate can gather data for military use

In addition, one of the drones last made contact with someone in China, according to a check of its SIM card.

“Based on the technical study or forensics of the SIM card, the last contact that it had was in mainland China. That’s the only information that the SIM card has,” Trinidad said.

The Navy official added that the drones “have the capability to receive, process, store and transmit data through satellite communications to a station on land, to a mother ship, or to other drones.”

The Philippine Navy also recovered two other underwater drones in Zambales in September 2022 and San Pascual, Masbate, earlier this year.

The forensic analyses of the drones were done with the help of the United States.

Military applications

Trinidad said some of the drones obtained key data that could have military applications.

“The data received focuses more on bathymetric data, depth of water, salinity, temperature, propagation of sound. All of these have applications across different fields, academic research, commercial purposes, and also military use,” he said.

“It’s very clear that these are used for mapping out the underwater terrain, collecting information,” he added.

Trinidad said that “any potential adversary who would like to harm our country would need to know the information, not only on land, on air, but more importantly, since we are an archipelago, underwater information.”

“It’s very clear that these are used for mapping out the underwater terrain, collecting information, like what I mentioned, bathymetric data,” he said. “All of these are used across different fields to include underwater warfare.”

Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general and spokesperson of the National Security Council, echoed Trinidad’s statements.

“The forensic examination on the submersible drones have allowed us to conclusively determine that they are of Chinese origin,” Malaya told reporters.

“They are also in all likelihood deployed by China to map the Philippines’ underwater terrain,” he said.

Alarming findings

The findings, according to him, are “alarming because of [their] implications [on] national security.”

“This only shows that we need to be more vigilant and we need to undertake more maritime patrols in more parts of the country to stop these types of activities,” he said.

Undersecretary Alexander Lopez, the National Maritime Council spokesperson, said the drones have Chinese markings and could be used for both nonmilitary and military purposes.

“Why are they here or why were they used here? Again, for military and nonmilitary purposes. Again, that is for intelligence gathering, whether it is military or nonmilitary. It is for intelligence gathering,” he told reporters at a news forum in Quezon City.

“Basically, that is how far they would like to venture into our maritime territory,” he said.

Malaya called on the public to report to law enforcement and intelligence agencies any suspicious activity.

“We thank the fishermen who recovered these drones and turned them over to the authorities,” he said.