The Philippine military has again logged a record-high number of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea for the third time this year. 

The recorded increase of Chinese ships sailing within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the WPS reached 251, significantly higher than 157 logged from 10 to 16 September—more than a week after the Philippine Coast Guard’s BRP Teresa Magbanua was pulled out from Escoda Shoal. 

“This time, ito ang pinakamalaking (it is the biggest) increase. From 157, it went down a bit, then it went up to 251. For whatever reason, I don't want to speculate on that. We continue monitoring. We continue performing our mandate,” Navy spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, said in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Tuesday. 

Based on the previous report, the Philippine Navy monitored 207 Chinese vessels from 3 to 9 September while there were 203 ships from 27 August to September. 

Trinidad lamented the increase was recorded within the “force projection capability of the total number of maritime militia vessels they have in the entire South China Sea.”

“We could correlate this to the ongoing activities in the entire West Philippine Sea (in) Escoda shoal and the weather disturbance we had last week. Historically, each time there is a weather disturbance, the numbers go down and they come back after the weather disturbance,” he explained. 

“It so happened that last week it was 157. We had a weather disturbance. They cleared the area. They came back to from 157 to 251,” he added. 

In the military’s latest data, there were a total of 28 China Coast Guard vessels (CCGV), with 16 People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships and 204 Chinese Maritime Militia vessels (CMMV) swarming within the Philippine-occupied features in the WPS. 

However, Trinidad maintained that China still has no control over the WPS as the number of its vessels is “within the total capability that they have for the South China Sea.”

“The term used was it is within the force projection capability. If we notice, the total number of maritime militia vessels in the entire South China Sea could be approximately 350 to 400, but these are dispersed all over the South China Sea,” he pointed out. 

Despite the Chinese presence, Trinidad said the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) can still perform its mandate over the country’s territorial waters, particularly at the WPS flashpoints such as Escoda Shoal and Ayungin Shoal.

“The mere fact that the AFP, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Army could continue performing our mandate, we continue sailing the seas and flying the skies, not only the AFP but also the other government agencies, it only indicates that nobody has control of that vast expanse of water in the South China Sea,” he said.