Efforts are underway to strengthen the country's defense after Chinese vessels were spotted in Benham Rise, east of Northern Luzon.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda over the weekend, said his panel, the House Committee on Ways and Means, is currently collaborating with the Committee on National Defense Committee “to make it easier to finance and acquire advanced weapons and military hardware.”

The announcement came days after two Chinese vessels made a presence in the Philippine (Benham) Rise, which is within the country’s exclusive economic zone.

In his X, formerly Twitter, erstwhile US Air Force official and Maritime Security Expert Ray Powell said the Chinese vessels were “loitering” in the northeast corner of Philippine Rise as of 1 March.

Salceda denounced China’s latest encroachment into the country, affirming it has no business there.

“The West Philippine Sea might be a condominium among our neighbors. But China has absolutely no place in the Benham Rise. That’s exclusively ours. They’re intruders — pure and simple,” Salceda asserted.

The economist-lawmaker commended Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro’s effort to boost the country’s technological capabilities in aerial and maritime patrolling and defense.

However, he said such an approach must be coupled with robust reinforcement of the country’s control in the domain.

The Philippine Navy reported on Sunday that the Chinese vessels have departed the country’s exclusive economic zone.

It said it would launch a surveillance mission to determine the type of vessels spotted in the vicinity of Benham Rise.

China started to show interest in Benham Rise, a resource-rich submerged landmass located east of Northern Luzon, in 2016, according to then-Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.