Over 63K foreign vessels passing Philippine waters challenged since January —Lorenzana

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday said a total of 63,699 vessels were detected and challenged for passing unauthorized in Philippine waters since January.

Lorenzana said they are monitoring the vessels entering the country’s territory through maritime and air surveillance operations from January 1 up to present.

“For vessels transiting the Philippine waters, 63,699 were detected and challenged,” Lorenzana said during the House budget hearing on the proposed P297,136,636,000 budget of the Defense Department for 2022.

He said 58,800 of the vessels responded to the radio challenge but 4,969 did not.

Lorenzana pointed out that the West Philippine Sea (WPS) is a major shipping route.

He shared this information after Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate called out the department for allegedly not including foreign intrusions in the WPS in its performance reports for General Appropriations Act (GAA) since 2018.

Asked about the recent “incursion” of foreign vessels in the WPS that the security forces have recorded, Lorenzana said “it happens all the time” since other South China Sea claimants also have features in the area.

“We cannot prevent them from coming in and out because most of them are fishing vessels, civilian vessels, once in a while, Coast Guard ships,” he said.

The Philippines previously protested China's continued presence and deployment of vessels in the WPS.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged China’s legal basis for its expansive claim before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.

The Philippines won the case in a landmark award in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Beijing’s assertions, although this did not stop Chinese incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

China has since rejected the ruling, saying its claims have a historical basis and are “indisputable.” —KBK, GMA News