MANILA — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has intensified its monitoring of Chinese naval and coast guard vessels spotted within the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), just days after the ninth anniversary of the Philippines’ landmark arbitral victory over China in the South China Sea.

Presidential Communications Undersecretary and Press Officer Claire Castro on Tuesday said the sighting of two Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy warships and a China Coast Guard vessel around 69 nautical miles off Cabra Island, Occidental Mindoro — clearly within the country’s EEZ — has raised concern among top officials.

“Sa ninth anniversary ng 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Award, nababahala si Foreign Affairs Secretary Maria Theresa Lazaro sa patuloy na hindi pagkilala ng China sa nasabing ruling at sa illegal, coercive at aggressive actions nito,” Castro said in a Palace briefing.

Lazaro stressed that the continued assertion of the 2016 ruling and the promotion of a rules-based international order rest on diplomacy.

On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines, rejecting China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea and affirming the Philippines’ sovereign rights within its EEZ under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has asserted that protecting Philippine sovereign rights is not a provocation, but “a sacred and fundamental duty of the state.”

National Security Adviser Eduardo Año also reiterated that no threats or disinformation campaign can undermine the final and binding nature of the arbitral ruling.

“Sa ilalim ng Marcos administration, kasama ang kapangyarihan ng international law, hindi aatras ang Pilipinas para sa laban sa soberanya sa West Philippine Sea,” Castro said.