At least nine China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels are presently patrolling inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, maritime monitor SeaLight said Sunday.
Ray Powell, a former US Air Force officer and director of SeaLight, told ABS-CBN News that the CCG vessels are dispersed across waters that China is claiming as its own.
“There are two that have gone up the coast of Palawan past Luzon within 25 to 35 nautical miles. Very very close. In addition, there are another four China Coast Guard ships around Scarborough Shoal,” he said.
“In Sabina Shoal, there are at least they have broadcast on. We suspect there are other ships out there, still running dark. So they turned off their automatic information systems and we’ve got some evidence of those that have been out but we can’t count them because they are hard to see,” Powell added.
The presence of the Chinese intruders were confirmed by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), which dispatched sea and air assets to drive away two CCG vessels spotted 34 nautical miles off the coast of Pangasinan province Sunday morning.
The CCG ships were spotted within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone using its Dark Vessel Detection program.
Soon after detecting the intruders, PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil
Gavan ordered a Coast Guard BN-2 Islander aircraft to visually identify the CCG vessels and initiate a radio challenge.
“At around 9:30 AM today, the PCG aircraft confirmed the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard vessels, identified by bow numbers 3301 and 3104. Notably, the CCG vessels did not respond to the radio challenge issued by the PCG,” the PCG wrote in its statement.
Two 44-meter PCG vessels, BRP Cabra (MRRV-4409) and BRP Bagacay (MRRV-4410), have been dispatched to Bolinao, Pangasinan to address the Chinese incursion.
“[The ships are] to address the illegal presence of the China Coast Guard and reinforce the Philippine government’s position against the normalization of illegal patrols by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ),” the PCG also said.
On Saturday, the CCG’s 541-foot long “monster ship” sailed deeper inside Philippine waters after a smaller Chinese vessel was successfully repelled by a PCG vessel.
PCG Spokesperson for West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela, said that CCG 3304 was successfully pushed away from the coastline of Zambales by the BRP Teresa Magbanua only to be replaced by CCG-5901.
“Despite this, the PCG is effectively maintaining a distance of approximately 110-115 nautical miles from the coast of Zambales,” Tarriela said in a statement.
Tariella noted that the crew of BRP Teresa Magbanua displayed exceptional courage and determination, undeterred by the imposing presence of the massive CCG-5901.
As this developed, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado said that the suspected foreign spies recently apprehended appear to have integrated themselves into society.
The BI Chief said that they have conducted an investigation into the records of the alleged spies and found that they have all been here for decades.
“Some have been here as early as 2002. They have been holding legal statuses, and have lived in the country for a long time before they were found to be doing suspicious activities by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” he said.
Viado said that some of the suspects had working visas linked to companies in San Juan and Manila, while others were married to Filipinas.
He also urged citizens to report to authorities any suspicious activities of foreign nationals that might be detrimental to national security.
Meanwhile, the NBI’s Cybercrime Division said the alleged Chinese agents arrested in the country last week had been spying on power plants, power grids, and substations operated by the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines.
They were also monitoring Ulugan Oyster Bay and Buliluyan Port in Bataraza, Palawan, using CCTV surveillance, the agency disclosed.
“Buliluyan, Bataraza is strategically important in southern Palawan. It is near an EDCA site, and Philippine Coast Guard vessels dock here after missions in the West Philippine Sea. It also serves as a secondary port due to its proximity to the North Balabac Strait, a vital sea lane where Navy vessels and planes have been monitored passing through in recent months,” said NBI Cybercrime Division chief Jeremy Lontoc said in an interview on GMA’s 24 Oras.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “Coast Guard sees 2 China ships sailing in Pangasinan”