PH Navy verifying reports of underwater structures in Bajo de Masinloc

The Philippine Navy on Tuesday said the military has received reports of underwater structures in Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“We have received reports of certain structures underwater, which we are verifying,” Philippine Navy spokesperson for WPS Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said in a press briefing.

However, he noted that the Philippine Navy is checking if these are new installations, considering that China in 1997 supposedly attempted to build a steel structure in Bajo de Masinloc, which was blown up by Filipino forces.

Before this, he added that there were also earlier reports on supposed structures in the area.

“Prior to that, there were also reports of building blocks that were reported in Bajo de Masinloc,” Trinidad said. 

“Upon further checking, these were blocks that were installed previous to all the escalation in Bajo de Masinloc during the time of the presence of US bases when Bajo de Masinloc was still used as a bombing range by the US Air Force, the US Navy, and I believe by the Philippine Air Force,” he explained.

On September 10, China announced the creation of a national nature reserve in Bajo de Masinloc.

The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on September 13 said it formally filed a diplomatic protest against China over its plan.

Australia, Canada. and Japan also rejected China's nature reserve in Bajo de Masinloc.

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Bajo de Masinloc is located 124 nautical miles off Masinloc, Zambales, and is considered within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Tensions continue as Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual shipborne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Parts of the South China Sea that fall within Philippine territory have been renamed by the government as the West Philippine Sea to reinforce the country’s claim.

The West Philippine Sea refers to the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago including Luzon Sea and the waters around, within and adjacent to the Kalayaan Island Group and Bajo de Masinloc.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines over China's claims in the South China Sea, saying that it had "no legal basis."

China has refused to recognize the decision. —VAL, GMA Integrated News