MANILA—The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) deployed an aircraft and the BRP Teresa Magbanua to monitor and challenge a China Coast Guard vessel operating near Cabra Island in Occidental Mindoro, while three Chinese naval warships were also monitored in the area.

The deployment on September 27 was ordered by PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil L. Gavan after China Coast Guard vessel CCG-3303 was monitored loitering about 35 nautical miles northwest of Cabra Island, within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

PCG aircraft 2081, a Cessna Grand Caravan, departed Manila at 8:40 a.m. for a Maritime Domain Awareness flight over the area.

At 9:20 a.m., the aircraft visually confirmed CCG-3303 about 36.61 nautical miles northwest of Cabra Island. The PCG said the aircraft issued multiple radio challenges, asserting that the Chinese vessel was operating within the Philippine EEZ without authorization.

The vessel did not respond to the radio challenges, according to the PCG.

Later in the day, the BRP Teresa Magbanua (MRRV-9701), while conducting a maritime patrol near Cabra Island, monitored three People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) warships with bow numbers 572, 536 and 551.

The warships were operating about 31 nautical miles northwest of the island.

As of Sunday afternoon, the BRP Teresa Magbanua was shadowing the three PLA-N vessels at distances ranging from 0.74 to 6.28 nautical miles while maintaining a PCG presence in the area.

The development followed the sighting of another PLA-N frigate, with bow number 569, about 22 nautical miles east-northeast of Bajo de Masinloc on September 26.

The PCG said the presence of the Chinese coast guard and naval vessels was likely connected to China’s monitoring of the ADMM-Plus Experts’ Working Group on Maritime Security Joint Cooperative Activity, whose at-sea phase in the West Philippine Sea concluded this week.

The PCG said CCG-3303’s failure to respond to the radio challenges near Cabra Island mirrored the pattern and suggested that the vessel was supporting the PLA-N monitoring activity rather than conducting a legitimate coast guard function.

The agency said the waters northwest of Cabra Island fall within the Philippine EEZ, where Manila exercises sovereign rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award.

The PCG said it would continue deploying air and surface assets to monitor, document and challenge foreign vessels operating in Philippine waters without authorization.

The deployment was also carried out in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive for the PCG to maintain a presence in strategic areas of the West Philippine Sea.

Marcos has repeatedly said the Philippines would not yield its territory and that he would not preside over any process that abandons even a square inch of Philippine territory.

Malacañang has likewise said government agencies acting within the law to protect the country’s rights and interests in the West Philippine Sea have the President’s full support.