US testing reaction of China when it disguised as Philippine aircraft -Esperon

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Thursday said American pilots could have been testing the reaction of China when it reportedly disguised its plane as a Philippine aircraft while passing over the Yellow Sea.

At a press conference, Esperon was asked about the incident wherein RC-135S reconnaissance aircraft supposedly used a hex code allocated to a Philippine plane last month.

"The pilots are probably trying to test the reaction that would come from China and so the Chinese reacted. It came out in the news, in the open," he said.

"The possibilities are they could be trying really the capacity of China... just imagine the incident happened in the Yellow Sea, which is between Korea and China. It is an area where we don't usually go, we stay within our domain... air and maritime domain for our patrols," he added.

Esperon further said the incident could "incriminate" the country as he noted that Philippine assets don't usually pass through that area. He said the matter should really be raised and discussed with the US.

"If you're an operator, a technician and you notice that a Philippine code comes to the area, then all the more that it brings out your suspicion. What could happen really is it can implicate or incriminate the Philippine side. That is why we simply have to remind the United States counterparts of the implications of this," he said.

"It is something that must be discussed, nonetheless, we hope this could be settled satisfactorily between the parties," Esperon added.

According to the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative (SCSPI), it was not the first time that a US plane did this as their aircrafts "electronically disguised themselves as Malaysian civilian aircraft while flying close to Chinese airspace."

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has said the matter is being verified with the US Embassy. At present, there is no update yet from the embassy, Esperon said.

He also said the incident "should be a lesson to some parties."

"Wala pa kaming update. We have yet to get the reaction of the US Embassy. But it is important to ask them and caution them or inform them if they have not known about it that their pilots have been using the codes that belong to Philippine aircraft," Esperon said.—AOL, GMA News