MANILA—The Philippine Coast Guard accused China of signal jamming during maritime patrols near Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea.

“The Starlink connection ng ating barko ng Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and even the Philippine Coast Guard vessel MRRV 4409 ay nawawalan ng signal,” said PCG spokesperson for the WPS, Commodore Jay Tarriela, in a virtual interview.

“I’d like to believe that there is signal jamming that the People’s Republic of China is doing because we monitor that for our vessels every time that we go near or go inside a radius of 24 nautical miles and closer sa Bajo de Masinloc, ito yung mga pagkakataon na nawawala yung Starlink signal natin,” he added.

Tarriela said the disruption could delay transmission of information and compromise communication between vessels and monitoring units.

According to the PCG, this was the first time they experienced such interference. “Ito rin ay naranasan ng apat na Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources [vessels] during this particular mission,” he said.

The incident occurred during a maritime domain awareness (MDA) operation, which followed monitoring of a large number of Filipino fishing boats in the area. The PCG deployed a Coast Guard Islander aircraft, BRP Cabra, and BRP Gabriela Silang, while the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources sent four vessels to provide safety assistance, fuel, and ice to fishermen. About 35 Filipino fishing boats were present.

During the mission, the PCG also observed three China Coast Guard vessels approximately 33.6 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc and a People’s Liberation Army Navy warship with bow number 554 about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Zambales.

Tarriela said the PCG would implement necessary contingencies if signal interference continues but declined to reveal operational details. The Chinese Embassy in Manila had not responded to requests for comment as of posting time.