The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday said around 35 Chinese naval and coast guard vessels were monitored in four key West Philippine Sea (WPS) features from May 4 to 11.
At a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, AFP spokesperson for the WPS Navy reservist Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the Chinese ships, composed of 20 CCG and 15 PLAN vessels, were spotted off Ayungin Shoal; Bajo de Masinloc; Escoda Shoal and Pag-asa Islands.
“For Ayungin Shoal, we have monitored for the period 4 to 11 May 2026, six Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels and one People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) ship. For Bajo de Masinloc, nine CCG and eight PLAN, Escoda Shoal, two CCG and three PLAN, and for Pag-asa, three CCG and three PLAN (vessels),” he added.
“Their illegal presence in our exclusive economic zone has been noted; they have been there. This is the reason why we have shifted to CADC (Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept),” he added.
The CADC is the military’s strategic shift where the AFP is tasked to defend all Philippine territories including the country’s 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
Trinidad said the AFP will keep securing Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights by performing patrols by sea and by air in the WPS.
During the “Balikatan” exercises, which took place from April 20 to May 8 in Luzon and parts of the Visayas and Mindanao, Chinese forces from the PLAN, CCG and even its maritime militia did not conduct any “coercive and aggressive actions,” the spokesperson said.
“Upon checking, what we noted was the presence of PLAN ships and CCG, and the occasional presence of a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (aircraft). [But] there was no noted synchronized activity that would symbolize an exercise being conducted,” he said.