THE Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed a diplomatic protest against China over the dangerous maneuvers and dropping of flares of the People’s Liberation Army–Air Force (PLAAF) while a Philippine aircraft was conducting a routine maritime security operation over the country’s sovereign airspace in the Scarborough Shoal.
This was confirmed by DFA spokesperson Teresita Daza without divulging further details.
In a press conference, Philippine Navy spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said they have provided the DFA all the necessary information in relation to the August 8 incident which was tagged by President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as “unjustified, illegal, and reckless actions.”
“I don’t want to go into the tactical details. What happened is that a regular flight of the Philippine Air Force was the subject of unsafe actions by the PLA Air Force. That is where we have to focus,” Trinidad said.
“Their presence in the first place within the national airspace of the Philippines above or 3.5 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc is unauthorized, it is illegal,” he added.
While this is the first time that a China aircraft dropped flares on a Philippine aircraft, there have been previous instances wherein the Philippine Air Force flights experienced flares coming from the bases of the PLA in the West Philippine Sea.
Trinidad expressed confidence in the skills of the Philippine Navy pilots in responding to such a situation noting that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) will not be deterred by any of these harassments.
“The broad picture for the West Philippine Sea for that matter for the entire expanse of our maritime domain is that your AFP will not be deterred in performing its mandate, whether on sea, on air or on the ground,” he said.
“The recent incident by the PLA Air Force will not deter our pilots from performing their mandate of conducting maritime air surveillance flights, those were uncalled for, those were unprofessional and unsafe,” he added.
The Philippine government filed dozens of diplomatic protests with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and sent a note verbale amid the repeated aggression and harassment of Filipino troops and fishermen in the WPS. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)