Suspected underwater drone recovered off Pangasinan waters

An alleged underwater drone has been recovered by local fishermen off Bolinao, Pangasinan waters, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday.

In a statement, PCG spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said the suspected underwater drone was obtained 149 nautical miles northwest off Bolinao on Wednesday.

“On August 6, 2025, while engaged in fishing approximately 149 nautical miles northwest off Bolinao, Pangasinan, the fishermen observed a floating orange object believed to be an underwater drone,” Tarriela said.

He said the fishermen, upon returning to port, reported the sighting of the object to the Coast Guard Substation Infanta and submitted a notarized affidavit detailing their discovery. 

The suspected underwater drone measures around 160 centimeters in length and 20 inches in width and weighs around 100 kilograms, according to Tarriela.

LOOK: A suspected underwater drone was recovered by local fishermen in Bolinao, Pangasinan waters on Wednesday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said Friday. Photo: PCG @gmanews pic.twitter.com/cYFo8ADg13

— Joviland Rita (@jovilandxrita) August 7, 2025

He said the suspected underwater drone was surrendered to the appropriate authorities for further investigation and analysis.

As of May, at least six underwater drones have been found in Philippine waters. 

Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad earlier said that China possibly deployed some of the recovered submersible drones.

“There is a 55 to 80% likelihood that these were deployed by the Chinese Communist Party,” he said.

According to Trinidad, the Philippine Navy has the results for the submersible drones found in Ilocos Norte, Calayan Island, and Misamis Oriental. Many components of these items were made in China.

National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya called the development “alarming,” as the underwater drones were used for intelligence purposes.

“These are alarming because, as mentioned by [National Maritime Council spokesperson Undersecretary Alexander Lopez], these are used for intelligence purposes,” Malaya said.

“So this really shows the extent of the operations in the Philippines. We have arrested several, more than 10 agents, Chinese agents in the Philippines, doing different types of espionage activities. And now we have this equipment being used also for intelligence,” he added. —VAL, GMA Integrated News