Philippine mission's China-made drone won't fly in West Philippine Sea

A China-made drone for a Filipino civilian mission to the West Philippine Sea would not take off, as it received prompts that required the operator to register the unit with Chinese authorities.

According to Vonne Aquino's report on "24 Oras," the drone received the prompts even when the Atin Ito vessel was well within the Philippines, just 127 nautical miles from Mindoro.

“Parang nagiging dayuhan tayo sa sarili ng ating bansa, because why do we need to register our drone to their CAAC when in fact our drones are already registered to our country? Nasa Pilipinas pa naman tayo. Bakit natin kailangan i-register sa kanila? Very disappointed,” said Atin Ito Coalition Drone Operator AJ Ventura.

(It’s like we’re becoming foreigners within our own country, because why do we need to register our drone to the Civil Aviation Authority of China when in fact our drones are already registered to our country? We’re still in the Philippines. Why do we need to register with them? Very disappointed.)

“This is part of the Manila Flight Information Region kung saan ang dapat na namumuno dito ay yung Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines. Ito ay nakakabahala. Kailangan nating pag-aralan pa lalo ito kasi this is a violation of our sovereignty,” Atin Ito Coalition civilian captain Rafaela David SAID.

(This is part of the Manila Flight Information Region, where the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines should be taking the lead. This is alarming. We need to study this further because this is a violation of our sovereignty.)

During the mission, the Philippine delegation was tailed by Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel 3103, which had previously used a long-range acoustic device against the BRP Cabra in January 2025.

While the mission had no Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) escort, two officials were onboard to monitor the situation.

“Ang medyo nakakabahala, 60 nautical miles away pa lang po tayo west of Mindoro, so ibig sabihin, well within our exclusive economic zone, ay ini-escort na tayo ng Chinese Coast GuarD," David said.

"Sila pa talaga yung nag-e-escort sa atin, kaya nakakabahala kasi definitely nasa loob pa po. Ito ng West Philippine Sea pero umaastang ayun na naman, siga ang China,” she added.

(What is concerning is that we are only 60 nautical miles west of Mindoro. So that means that while we are well within our exclusive economic zone, the Chinese Coast Guard is already escorting us… They are the ones with the audacity to escort us, which is why this is alarming, because we are definitely still inside the country. This is the West Philippine Sea, and yet China is already acting arrogantly.)

The mission also encountered Canadian and Australian warships that were part of the Balikatan Exercises.

As of 7 p.m., the mission is still being tailed by the CCG.

Meanwhile, the mission’s advance party was also reportedly tailed by a Chinese vessel with a bow number of 525.

The Chinese Embassy reiterated that Atin Ito had been conducting activities to intimidate them in the name of protecting Philippine sovereignty, and said that they will continue defending their claimed territories. –Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/NB, GMA News