China issues radio challenge vs PAF aircraft en route to Pag-asa Island

Chinese forces issued a radio challenge to a Philippine Air Force (PAF) cargo aircraft headed to Pag-asa Island.

In Chino Gaston’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” the PAF C-130 Hercules was carrying officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and some members of the media to conduct an inspection of Pag-asa Island.

The AFP aimed to show the new structures and the current situation of Pag-asa Island and other military outposts in the Kalayaan Island Group.

Also onboard the plane were a number of residents and elementary school teachers. 

However, as the plane neared Pag-asa, China issued a radio challenge.

“Before we landed, there was a radio challenge. There was one radio challenge that occurred but hindi na ito nag prosper and with that ang sagot naman ng ating mga piloto, of course, we are asserting pa rin and holding our sovereign with this. We conducted itong media embedded maritime patrol na makita talaga natin yung situation in the area,” AFP spokesperson Colonel Francel Padilla said.

(Before we landed, there was a radio challenge. There was one radio challenge that occurred, but it did not prosper and our pilots’ response has always been the same: we are attesting and holding our sovereign. We conducted a media-embedded maritime patrol to show the situation in the area.)

The new airport control tower is almost finished, while the current three-kilometer long runway is currently being extended to accommodate larger aircraft.

These developments are in stark contrast to a decaying watchtower and derelict amphibious tanks deployed by the military in the 1970s around the island.

The island’s electricity comes from a community generator while a desalination plant converts seawater to drinking water.

A fisherman told reporters that fishing in the waters off Pag-asa has been difficult due to the presence of the Chinese and Vietnamese vessels. He mentioned their crews used cyanide to catch fish.

Due to the bad weather and strong waves on Tuesday morning, Chinese fishing militia vessels surrounding the island were only observed in the afternoon once the weather improved. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News