The Department of National Defense (DND) on Monday vowed to continue enforcing Philippine laws against illegal activities allegedly involving Chinese nationals within the country's territory and jurisdiction, stressing that its duty to defend national sovereignty is “non-negotiable.”

In a statement sent to DAILY TRIBUNE, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong pushed back against the Chinese Embassy's criticism of the department's recent statements on national security concerns.

“The DND exists to protect Philippine sovereignty, our territory, and our people. That duty is non-negotiable,” the department said.

“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,” it added.

Andolong said the DND had raised questions with the Chinese Embassy regarding 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,” Andolong said.

“We decry this apparent hypocrisy of abusing the freedom of speech in our country while there is censorship of the same in China,” he added.

27 diplomatic protests filed in first half of 2026

Meanwhile, the National Maritime Council (NMC) said the Philippines filed 27 diplomatic protests against Chinaover its actions in the West Philippine Sea during the first half of 2026.

NMC spokesperson Alexander Lopez said diplomatic protests were largely driven by incidents in the disputed waters.

“Well, the nature of diplomatic protests are actually incident-driven. So siguro nagkataon na during the past semester there are several incidents that necessitated for our government, especially the DFA, to come up with appropriate diplomatic actions,” Lopez said.

He said the Department of Foreign Affairs lodged the protests over what the government describes as China's “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive” actions.

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

Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Jay Tarriela said reported confrontations involving Chinese maritime forces have been less frequent compared with the previous year.

“The last water cannoning incident that we have reported was December of 2025 and then the most recent was two weeks ago during the Kadiwa Para sa Bagong Bayaning Mangingisda operation of BFAR and the PCG wherein BFAR vessel was once again subjected to water cannon,” Tarriela said.

The PCG is also continuing to monitor Chinese activity at Bajo de Masinloc, where Tarriela said three floating buoys and a floating barrel remain.

He said authorities have yet to determine whether the buoys contain communications equipment or antennas.

Tarriela added that the number of Chinese maritime vessels around Bajo de Masinloc had decreased amid adverse weather conditions, which have also affected Philippine assets and Filipino fishermen operating in the area.