By Lane Afable, News Editor
Philippine authorities on June 10 released photographs of a movable floating platform allegedly deployed by China in Bajo de Masinloc in the West Philippine Sea, following its detection through satellite imagery and maritime domain awareness operations.
The Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces of the Philippines documented the platform, which features a 6×6-meter floating deck equipped with an antenna and metal supports for anchoring.
Latest imagery also confirmed the presence of personnel onboard.
Representative Ma. Alana Samantha Taliño Santos of the 3rd District of Cotabato Province, the newly elected Chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, strongly supports the position of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTFWPS) and commends the Department of Foreign Affairs for its timely filing of diplomatic protests against China’s unlawful presence in Bajo de Masinloc.
“Bajo de Masinloc is indisputably Philippine territory. It lies within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone, approximately 119 nautical miles from Zambales. The deployment of this floating platform is a flagrant violation of Philippine sovereignty, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the binding 2016 Arbitral Award on the South China Sea. We will not stand by while our maritime domain is being encroached upon,” Taliño Santos said.
Taliño Santos likewise commended the AFP and the PCG, for their sustained patrol and surveillance operations in the West Philippine Sea. She noted that their coordinated efforts were instrumental in monitoring developments in Bajo de Masinloc.
“I commend the women and men of the AFP and the Coast Guard who continue to perform their mandate under difficult and dangerous conditions, patrolling our seas and flying our skies so that our countrymen may continue to exercise their rights in our own waters. Their dedication is a vital line of defense for our nation, and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs stands firmly behind them,” she added.
Taliño Santos reaffirmed that the protection of Philippine sovereignty, sovereign rights, and maritime interests will remain a priority of the Committee on Foreign Affairs under her leadership. She pledged to use her position as House Foreign Affairs Chair to pursue legislative measures that reinforce the Philippines’ legal standing under international law, support diplomatic initiatives that assert the country’s maritime entitlements, and ensure that the voices of Filipinos who depend on the West Philippine Sea are heard in the halls of Congress.
