No foreign nation has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs to assert ownership of the recently discovered submersible drone located off the coast of Masbate.

This was revealed by DFA Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega on Wednesday during the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones investigation into the discovered submersible drone in the Philippine waters.

“We have not received any information — as expected — from any foreign state to claim ownership of the submersible drone,” De Vega said when asked whether the Philippines reached out to China to ask about the submersible drone.

He noted that the Philippine government through the DFA did not communicate with China regarding the submersible drone allegedly belonging to the superpower nation.

He, likewise, denied claims that China has called on the Philippines to return the submersible drone found by fishermen off the coast of Barangay Inawaran in San Pascual town in Masbate earlier this year.

Fishermen reported finding the six-foot drone, believed to be of Chinese origin, floating vertically at sea. The drone, which appeared deactivated when it was found, appeared to be constructed from PVC and metal.

Diplomatic protest

Citing Article 245 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), De Vega stressed that if the submersible drone is proven to be owned by China, the Philippine government would file a diplomatic protest.

“Under Article 245 of UNCLOS, the expressed consent from the coastal state is needed for a foreign country to conduct marine scientific research in its territorial sea,” he said.

“It is a violation so if China has it, well, we're gonna protest instead if you admit that the drone is yours,” he added.

National security matter

Meanwhile, the Department of National Defense (DND) said the submersible drone is a data-gathering equipment that can be of multiple use.

Citing open sources, DND Undersecretary for Strategic Assessment and Planning Ignacio Madriaga, all information that the equipment can gather has commercial, scientific, and military uses considering the strategic location of the Philippines.

“Any country that can gather hydrographic information would gain a significant advantage. Specifically, based on open sources, this equipment gathers data such as salinity, temperature, and depth,” Madriaga told the Senate panel.

He continued, “It can conduct mapping of the subsurface. All of this is important for any country with subsurface warfare capabilities.”

For the part of the DND, Madriaga said that the department viewed the discovery of the submersible drone in Masbate as a national security matter.

“As I said, this is for data gathering. All the data that can be collected can be considered intelligence, and this information can have multiple uses for military purposes,” he said.

“As far as the Defense Department is concerned, we are treating it as a national security matter. Whether it is unarmed or uncrewed, we consider it a violation of our territorial rights,” he added.