The Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday vowed to continue enforcing Philippine law against what it described as illegal activities by Chinese nationals within the country’s sovereign territory and jurisdiction, as tensions with Beijing persist over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

DND spokesperson Arsenio R. Andolong said the department’s mandate to protect the Philippines’ sovereignty, territory, and people was non-negotiable.

“The DND exists to protect Philippine sovereignty, our territory, and our people. That duty is non-negotiable,” Andolong said in a statement to DAILY TRIBUNE.

The DND issued the statement in response to the Chinese embassy’s dismissal of Philippine national security concerns as “political rhetoric” and “inflammatory language.”

“Attempts by the Chinese embassy to dismiss legitimate national security concerns as mere political rhetoric or inflammatory language do not erase the documented, ongoing Philippine law enforcement operations against illegal activities by Chinese nationals within the Philippines’ sovereign territory and jurisdiction,” the DND said.

Andolong said the Philippines had raised questions with the Chinese embassy over the alleged illegal activities and demanded clear answers.

“The Filipino people demand unequivocal answers, not evasive questions and concocted narratives that are clearly intended to mislead the general public and misdirect their attention away from the core issues at hand,” he said.

He also accused China of hypocrisy, saying the embassy was exercising freedom of speech in the Philippines while similar freedoms were subject to censorship in China.

27 protests filed

Meanwhile, the National Maritime Council (NMC) said the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed 27 diplomatic protests against China in the first half of 2026 over incidents in the WPS.

NMC spokesperson Alexander Lopez said the protests were incident-driven and were filed in response to what the government described as China’s illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive (ICAD) actions in the disputed waters.

“Our DFA filed a total of 27 diplomatic protests for the semester, especially on the ICAD actions in the WPS by the Chinese Coast Guard and other activities of their maritime forces,” Lopez said at a press conference.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the WPS, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela said, however, the number of reported incidents involving Chinese maritime forces has generally been lower than last year.

He noted that the last reported water-cannoning incident occurred in December 2025, until a recent incident involving a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessel during a Kadiwa Para sa Bagong Bayaning Mangingisda operation.

Tarriela said the PCG continues to monitor three floating buoys and a floating barrel in Bajo de Masinloc.

“At this time, we are monitoring the same number of floating buoys. There are still three floating buoys there. We still don’t know whether these are really three communication structures or antennas. They are still there, as well as one floating barrel,” Tarriela said.

He added that the number of Chinese maritime assets in Bajo de Masinloc has decreased significantly, partly due to the unfavorable weather conditions. Philippine assets and fishing activity in the area have also declined amid the weather.