TWO Chinese Navy ships were monitored yesterday in the West Philippine Sea near vessels from the Philippines, United States and France involved in a multilateral maritime exercise (MME) under the ongoing Balikatan exercise.
Capt. Ariel Coloma, spokesman of the AFP Western Command, said the two People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) ships had bow numbers 793 and 167.
“Two PLAN ships are in the vicinity as of now,” Coloma said, citing information he received as of 9 a.m. yesterday. “They are about four to five nautical miles from the group.”
Last Thursday, two Philippine Navy vessels and one each from the US and France started the MME, which was due to end later yesterday.
Coloma said the vessels involved in the MME were some 33 nautical miles northwest of Quezon town in Palawan when the vessels Chinese vessels were sighted.
One of the Chinese vessels monitored yesterday, with bow number 793, was also sighted near the exercise area last Saturday.
Last Sunday, the military reported that another Chinese Navy vessel, with bow number 578, was also sighted near the exercise area.
The Armed Forces and the Philippine Coast Guard are also monitoring a Chinese-flagged research vessel initially sighted in the country’s eastern seaboard.
The vessel, Shen Kuo, was initially sighted off Rapu-Rapu Island in Albay and was monitored off Viga, Catanduanes last Saturday.
PCG spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the vessel was “slowly moving” some 78 nautical miles northwest of Mapanas, Northern Samar as of 6 p.m. last Sunday.
“According to the information gathered, the vessel departed from Shenzhen Port on April 13th and passed through Itbayat and Basco, Batanes on April 22nd,” said Tarriela.
“It then proceeded southwards, coming within 11 nautical miles of the coast of Mapanas, Northern Samar on April 25th. After that, it traveled north again until it reached the waters off Catanduanes, where it was monitored by the AFP,” said Tarriela.
National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said authorities are eyeing to board the vessel since it did not respond to radio messages.
“We have to ascertain what this vessel is doing there,” said Malaya. “We can speculate right now (on the vessel’s objective). The next step is to send a ship to intercept and determine what the vessel is doing within our exclusive economic zone.”
In an ambush interview at Camp Aguinaldo, AFP public affairs chief Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the vessel was 44.6 nautical miles from Gamay, Northern Samar as of 7:30 a.m. yesterday.
“The vessel is loitering from one point to another point, it is traversing and loitering. We call it stop and go and as of now we continue to monitor the vessel,” said Trinidad.
Trinidad said it was possible the vessel was conducting a survey “because its movement is unusual and its (area) not considered an international highway for vessels.”
“Its stop-and-go movement is unusual,” added Trinidad.
Asked if they will board and search the vessel, Trinidad said: “That is still for other maritime law enforcement agencies, we have been coordinating with them what will be the possible actions on this particular incident.”
RADAR FROM JAPAN
The defense department yesterday received the second of the four radars worth P5.5 billion it is acquiring from Japan under the military’s ongoing modernization program.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. received the documents for the TPS-P14ME Mobile Air Surveillance Radar System from Japanese Ambassador Kazuya Endo in rites at Camp Aguinaldo.
Teodoro subsequently handed over the documents to AFP vice chief Lt. Gen. Arthur Cordura who then handed them to Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Stephen Parreño.
The defense department entered into a government-to-government deal with Japan in August 2020 for the acquisition of three fixed radar units and a mobile radar unit, manufactured by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, for P5.5 billion.
One of the fixed radars was accepted by the defense department last December while the two other fixed radars are due for delivery within the next two years.
Parreño said the radar is “a critical component of our (Air Force) surveillance and early warning capability.
“Truly, it will play a significant role in bolstering the Philippine Air Force’s capabilities in maintaining situational awareness in our airspace,” Parreño said.
Parreño said the radars will ensure that “we maintain a watchful eye on the horizon for potential threats anytime, anywhere, crucial in light of an ever-changing geopolitical landscape in the region.”
The radars are being assigned to the Air Force’s 580th Aircraft Control and Warning Wing.
Teodoro declined to say where the newly-received mobile radar would be deployed.
“It adds (to) our scope of domain awareness, particularly in the aerial domain. It adds eyes,” said Teodoro.
The Air Force said the mobile radar provides high-resolution surveillance of air and surface targets, “enabling us to track and
identify potential threats with precision and accuracy.”
It said the mobile radar can be deployed to different locations, allowing the military to quickly establish surveillance operations in remote and strategic areas.
It also said the mobile radar “significantly enhances the Philippine Air Force’s operational capabilities by providing real-time situational awareness, early warning detection, and precise target tracking capabilities.”
AÑO’S CALL
National Security Adviser Eduard Año urged the public, including the media, to push back against the “malign and corrosive narratives that seek to undermine the national interest” as one country continues to engage in black propaganda.
Año, during a media seminar on the West Philippine Sea, acknowledged the role of the media in helping the public better understand and appreciate, make informed decisions, and take necessary steps concerning recent developments in the South China Sea/West Philippine Sea.
He said the Philippine government also wants to “expose to the whole world that the Chinese narratives are full of lies and are purely based on deceptions” by trying to control and counter these false narratives by bringing out the truth through more transparent reports, among others.
“We all know that this territorial row drags on each day that passes as our northern neighbor has been doubling down in its dangerous, coercive, aggressive and illegal activities in our territory. One glaring development in their tactics: They have been busy trying to control the information space with their twisted and baseless narratives, propagating misinformation, disinformation, malign influence operations, and other propaganda primarily to serve and advance their interests and divide and distract us,” he said.
He said among such narratives was the alleged gentleman’s agreement between the previous administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte and China, and the alleged “new model” concerning the Ayungin Shoal between China and the Marcos government.
The alleged agreement and new model supposedly pertain to arrangements concerning activities in the Ayungin Shoal.
“These are clearly black propaganda used to create distractions, divisions, and conflict among our people. It serves no purpose and has no bearing because President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has been very clear: This administration is not aware of any secret or gentleman’s agreement and if there was such done under a previous administration, the same has been rescinded,” Año said.
“Now, this ‘new model’ announced by the Chinese Embassy is nothing more than a new invention. As the President has clearly stated, there is no agreement whatsoever about Ayungin Shoal and that we shall continue to do all activities within the bounds of international law and we shall brook no interference in our lawful actions,” he added.
Año said what makes the situation worse is that some local apologists, propagandists, trolls, and fearmongers are parroting and amplifying the corrosive statements as well as promoting a “defeatist” attitude.
“They would rather that our country remained silent and accommodating in the face of outright aggression and bullying inside our maritime zones. We thus call on the media and the public to stand their ground and push back against these malign and corrosive narratives that seek to undermine the national interest. The media, most especially, should never fall into a trap that clearly seeks to sow division in our country and weaken our resolve in asserting our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the WPS. In the future, these tactics will escalate as tensions are expected to boil in the contested waters,” he added.
Año said the government cannot prevent, control, and counter the false narratives on its own and would need the help and support of everyone including the media.
“We will need the media to push back against these corrosive narratives for it is not only the government’s interest that is at stake here. Rather, is our country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdictions that are on the line. I emphasize then that arming ourselves with information that stands on legal ground is crucial in this battle against fake news, disinformation, and misinformation,” he said.
“From the spate of run-ins in our waters to the wars being fought in the digital space–with you by our side, we just want the truth to come out. We merely desire to expose to the whole world that the Chinese narratives are full of lies and are purely based on deceptions.
What we in government strive to do now is to control and counter these false narratives by bringing out the truth, by being more transparent in our reports, and by exposing and correcting this unfounded and deceitful information and propaganda against us. And we envision to continue doing all of these and prevail over such tactics and behaviors of course, with your help as ‘harbingers of truth’,” he added.
Año, acknowledging the risks involved, assured everyone that the government would protect them.
He said the Presidential Task Force on Media Security is there to help ensure the security, safety and welfare of the media to be able to fulfill and carry out their respective mandates freely, fairly, and responsibly.
“Let us not be afraid nor hesitant to do this, for after all, our claims have legal basis and not to mention, we have been receiving incredibly gratifying support and firm stance from the international community. Even more worth pointing out, all hands are on deck under the leadership of President Marcos whose position and guidance have always been very clear and unyielding from the very beginning,” he said.
“With the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and the National Maritime Council maximizing and synergizing all instruments of national power to protect and advance what is ours, we can all be assured that we are on the right track and headed in the right direction… We are one nation, and we must be all in this together,” he added.
The Philippines and China have overlapping claims in the South China Sea Along with Vietnam, Brunei, and Malaysia, with the Chinese claiming almost the entire South China Sea.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague invalidated China’s claim which stemmed from a complaint filed by the Philippines following a standoff at the Scarborough Shoal. China had refused to acknowledge the ruling.
In the past months, China had taken more aggressive actions that included using water cannons, shadowing and harassing Philippine vessels that were bringing supplies to the BRP Sierra Madre which had been grounded at the Ayungin Shoal. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
