📷Chinese warship file photo
CHINA seemed positioning its warships ahead of the navigational and communication vessel at the West Philippine Sea as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) claims to have spotted four People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels – two destroyers, a frigate, and an oiler – passing through the Balabac Strait.
AFP Public Affairs Office chief Colonel Xerxes Trinidad identified the Chinese vessels — PLAN destroyer Luyang III (DDG-168) and frigate Jiangkai II (FFG-570) spotted heading southwest at 13 knots at 1:49 p.m. on June 19.
Two other PLAN vessels — the destroyer Renhai (CG-105) and the replenishment oiler Fuchi (AOR-907) – were monitored moving southwest through the strait at 15 knots at 3:56 p.m.
The AFP mouthpiece cited the presence of the Chinese as unusual since the area is a navigational route for international shipping vessels.
A former barangay chairman in Onok Island in Balabac, Palawan had said he and his group were on their way home from a medical mission on an island when they spotted two of the Chinese ships.
The former chairman said they initially thought the ships were Philippine vessels until they saw the Chinese flags.
A doctor who was part of the medical mission said one of the foreign ships moved as close as one kilometer.
By the doctor’s estimate, the Chinese vessels were already on the municipal waters of Balabac.
Early this month, the Philippine Navy claimed roughly 150 Chinese vessels were found in various maritime features in the West Philippine Sea.
From June 4 to 10, the Navy said it spotted a total of 146 Chinese vessels in eight maritime features: 108 Chinese Maritime Militia vessels (CMMV), 22 were People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, and 16 China Coast Guard vessels (CCGV).
The number of vessels spotted during the period was higher than the 125 vessels monitored from May 28 to June 3. (ANGEL F. JOSE)
