The Philippine Navy (PN) has confirmed reports that Chinese vessels’ have heightened their electronic countermeasure capabilities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Meanwhile, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said the proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act is expected to strengthen the country’s claim over the disputed WPS.
In a press briefing held at Camp Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Philippine Navy spokesman for WPS Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said such acts of China have been going on and might have started much earlier.
“They have noted an increase in cyber interference, electronic interference, jamming, and stuff like that not only for equipment of the ship, but also for land-based communication equipment and this usually happens during preparations for RORE (rotation and resupply) missions,” Trinidad said.
“It’s on the communications on the ships and communication land, so there are times that interference or the ability to communicate is affected that is not the normal shortcoming in our communication, but we know that there is a deliberate attempt to prevent them from communicating, ship to ship or on land not only for our communication aboard ship or on land but also cell phones,” he added.
Trinidad said the electronic jamming being conducted by China does not cause significant impact in the PN operations, noting that their operations are still ready to be executed and can be done even without communication.
Trinidad also assured the public that they are imposing and practicing communication protocols to ensure that all information are safe while he cannot confirm if Chinese authorities are able to get vital information through the communication interference.
“There are protocols on how to address that so rest assured that we have been addressing these issues, but we have noted them for the past good number of years,” said Trinidad.
“There is no confidential information that gets out, these are the normal communications traffic. I would not say eavesdrop, probably monitoring, monitoring our communications, or interfering to prevent us from communicating regularly or normally. There are appropriate protocols on how to address when there are interferences like that,” he added.
Trinidad also said the Chinese Coast Guard, Navy and militia vessels still manifest their physical presence in the WPS, which the Philippine government maintained to be within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela also said that Chinese vessels have placed floating barriers in the WPS to drive away Filipino fishermen and Philippine government vessels.
He said the Chinese will remove the barriers when there are no more Philippine seacraft in the area.
Meanwhile, the Senate on Monday night approved on third and final reading the proposed legislation under Senate Bill No. 2294 that seeks to establish Philippine maritime zones.
Gatchalian, a member of the Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zone, expressed hopes the proposed legislation would be enacted as soon as possible due to the continuing tension in the WPS.
Over the weekend, the Chinese Coast Guard blocked near the Scarborough Shoal a Philippine vessel which was delivering fuel and aid to Filipino fishermen in the area.
The PCG said they had a similar encounter in the area a week earlier.
“This is an important piece of legislation that would strengthen our sovereign rights in the WPS, which was already established by our victory in the 2016 arbitral ruling,” said Gatchalian, who co-authored the proposed measure.
The proposed Philippine Maritime Zones Act, once enacted into law, would clearly define the country’s maritime zones, harmonizing domestic laws on maritime territory with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Specifically, the establishment of the country’s maritime zones would fortify the geographical extent of the Philippines’ maritime domain, Gatchalian explained.
Senator Francis Tolentino sponsored the measure, which will establish the Philippine Maritime Zones in compliance with the UNCLOS and the 2016 Arbitral Ruling.
The measure sets the archipelagic boundaries, the country’s internal waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZ) over which the Philippine government exercises sovereignty and jurisdiction. Under the measure, the Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its EEZ in the WPS are highlighted together with the Benham Rise.