The Philippines has tripled its patrol coverage in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to bolster maritime defense and transparency amid renewed tensions with China, the National Maritime Council (NMC) announced on Tuesday.
This as most Filipinos expressed satisfaction with the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) performance in the last quarter, amid heightened tensions in the WPS.
During the council’s third-quarter press briefing, NMC spokesman Undersecretary Alexander Lopez said the expanded patrol operations form part of a unified effort by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to strengthen coordination and ensure sustained presence in the country’s maritime zones.
“With our assets deployed, we were able to cover three times more of the West Philippine Sea because of the vessels and aircraft we deployed. We have covered the West Philippine Sea quite abundantly,” Lopez said.
He said the expanded coverage reflected President Marcos’ policy of “enhanced transparency” in the WPS.
Lopez said the NMC’s Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) operations over the past quarter included 224 surface operations, 43 air patrols, and 56 intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) activities.
Thirty vessels were deployed for surface operations, including eight from the AFP, eight from the PCG, and 14 from BFAR. They logged a total time at sea of 9,784 hours and covered more than 77,006 nautical miles.
For air patrols, the government deployed five aircraft, including two from the AFP, one from the PCG, and two from BFAR, totalling 245 flight hours.
Lopez noted that ISR operations strengthened the Philippines’ strategic presence in the region.
As part of continuing surveillance, the PCG conducted an MDA flight on Tuesday morning over the waters near Bajo de Masinloc in the WPS.
According to a survey by the OCTA Research Group, about 75 percent of the people gave a thumbs up approval of the PCG’s performance at the WPS.
The poll, dubbed Tugon ng Masa, also showed that only four percent expressed dissatisfaction with the PCG’s performance.
Across major areas, satisfaction with the PCG was more pronounced in the National Capital Region with 82 percent, followed by Mindanao with 77 percent, Visayas with 75 percent, and Balance Luzon the lowest at 72 percent.
OCTA noted that these findings indicated that the PCG enjoyed broad public approval, especially in the coastal regions where its operations were most visible.
This satisfaction appeared to be influenced by regional exposure and perceived responsiveness, particularly in areas facing maritime incidents or geopolitical tensions, OCTA said.
The survey also showed that a significant majority (71 percent) of the respondents trusted the PCG, 24 percent remained undecided, and five percent unhappy.
Overall, the survey findings suggest that high levels of public trust and satisfaction with the PCG’s performance are influenced by the ongoing territorial disputes in the WPS.
The face-to-face survey was conducted on Sept. 25- 30, with 1,200 respondents aged 18 and above.
The survey has a ±3 percent margin of error at a 95 percent confidence level. Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95 percent confidence level: ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
