China likely deployed some underwater drones recovered in PH waters —AFP

China possibly deployed some of the submersible drones recovered in Philippine waters, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday.

“There is a 55 to 80% likelihood that these were deployed by the Chinese Communist Party,” Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press conference.

Trinidad said the Philippine Navy conducted an investigation on five underwater drones recovered in the following areas:

• Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte in July 2022
• Zambales in September 2022
• Calayan Island in August 2024
• Initao, Misamis Oriental in October 2024
• San Pascual, Masbate in December 2024

According to Trinidad, the Philippine Navy has the results for the submersible drones found in Ilocos Norte, Calayan Island, and Misamis Oriental.

Many components of these items were made in China, Trinidad said.

Aside from this, Trinidad said the last contact of one of the underwater drones was in China based on its SIM card.

“Based on the technical study or forensics of the SIM card, the last contact that it had was in mainland China. That's the only information that the SIM card has,” Trinidad said.

These underwater drones have the capability to receive, process, store, and transmit data through satellite communications to a station on land, to a mothership, or to other drones, Trinidad said.

GMA News Online has sought comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila about the matter but it has yet to provide a statement as of posting time.

In a forum, National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya called the development “alarming” as the underwater drones were used for intelligence purposes.

“These are alarming because, as mentioned by [National Maritime Council spokesperson Undersecretary Alexander Lopez], these are used for intelligence purposes,” Malaya said.

“So this really shows the extent of the operations in the Philippines. We have arrested several, more than 10 agents, Chinese agents in the Philippines, doing different types of espionage activities. And now we have this equipment being used also for intelligence,” he added. —KG/NB, GMA Integrated News