PCG to conduct WPS maritime domain awareness flights

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will launch its own maritime domain awareness (MDA) flights over key areas of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to assert the country’s territorial rights.

“This will be the Coast Guard aircraft, and we’ll conduct [an] MDA flight from Pangasinan to Zambales,” PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said at the Saturday News Forum.

Tarriela emphasized that these routine flights reaffirm the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ). 

The announcement comes after a Chinese military helicopter conducted “dangerous” maneuvers over Bajo de Masinloc.

Meanwhile, the PCG is currently tracking the China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 5303 80 nautical miles off Bolinao, Pangasinan.

Meanwhile, the CCG vessels 3301 and 3105 were spotted off Zambales.

“We are also directly challenging the vessels na nakikita natin, and in those instances na mayroon tayong makikita na  CCG vessel, magde-deploy din tayo ng PCG vessel to directly challenge and to counter the presence of the CCG,” Tarriela said. 

(We are actively challenging these vessels, and whenever we detect CCG ships, we deploy PCG vessels to counter their presence.

The West Philippine Sea includes the Luzon Sea, the Kalayaan Island Group, and Bajo de Masinloc.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that China has no legal basis for its claims in the South China Sea.

Despite the ruling, Beijing refuses to recognize the decision and continues its activities in disputed waters. — DVM, GMA Integrated News