Navy tracks 62 Chinese vessels at WPS

The Philippine Navy monitored dozens of Chinese naval and coast guard vessels across the West Philippine Sea in February, a high-ranking official said Tuesday, highlighting a continued “illegal presence” in the country’s maritime domain.

Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, disclosed that 62 People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) and Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were spotted at four key features from 1 to 28 February.

According to Trinidad, the Navy recorded 23 vessels at Bajo de Masinloc, 17 at Ayungin Shoal, 13 at Escoda Shoal, and nine at Pag-asa Island. The deployment included a mix of military and coast guard assets at each location.

“These figures reflect continued illegal CCP presence in areas wherein the Philippines exercises sovereignty, jurisdiction, and sovereign rights,” Trinidad said.

The maritime activity in the West Philippine Sea was part of a broader surveillance effort that tracked a total of 18,360 vessels across the country’s entire maritime domain during the same period.

Of those, 15,327 were identified as foreign vessels and 3,033 were domestic.

Trinidad said that while monitoring efforts are distributed nationwide, heightened activity remains concentrated in Northern Luzon, the West Philippine Sea, Western Mindanao, and along the eastern seaboard.

“The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) remains committed to safeguarding national territory, sovereignty, and sovereign rights, while upholding international law and contributing to regional peace and stability,” Trinidad added.

The report comes amid ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where the Philippines continues to assert its rights over its exclusive economic zone against expansive Chinese claims.