Enlisted personnel of the Philippine Navy conduct flag hoisting activities at the superstructure of the BRP Davao Del Sur as they conclude the day on the West Philippine Sea on May 18, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN NewsMANILA -- A Philippine Navy official on Tuesday confirmed they have been monitoring interference on the “electronic capabilities” of their ships in the West Philippine Sea for the past three to four years.

Navy Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad said the interference does not only affect the Navy’s ships’ equipment, but also their land-based communication equipment.

He added that these interference usually happen during the preparation stages for rotation and resupply mission to the West Philippine Sea.

But Trinidad clarified he could not pinpoint the source of the interference.

“When it comes to interference in our electronic capabilities… it has been going on for the past 3 or 4 years, even earlier,” Trinidad said in a regular press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

“This usually happens or is noted during preparation stages for RoRe [rotation and resupply] missions,” he continued.

Trinidad, however, stressed that this is not a cause for concern, explaining that the interference “does not reach a stage where they will interfere with the [ships’] navigation.”

“Minimal naman ‘yung effect niya,” the Navy official said. “These are more on communications: radio transmissions on land, cellphones. But in the overall impact of the operations, they do not really cause a significant impact.”

“A ship is a complicated system. It has engineering systems, weapons, navigation, communications. What can be interfered is the communication and navigation. But to totally cripple a ship, you need more than that,” he added.

Trinidad also said the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Navy have “appropriate protocols” in place to ensure that all communications and transmissions are secured.

“The communications, the moment that the missions are undertaken, even without communicating, all operating units already know what to execute, so there is minimal use and we observe the appropriate protocols,” Trinidad noted.

He went on: “The AFP and the PH Navy practice proactive protocols to ensure that our transmissions are secured, not only for the RoRe missions. It is safe to assume there would be possible actions from any other interested party to ‘eavesdrop’ or monitor our communications, hence the need for appropriate protocols, which we observe.”

Trinidad disclosed the information after the Philippine Coast Guard on Monday said that part of China’s actions in the West Philippine Sea includes jamming the tracking system of Philippine vessels.

PCG Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela stated this has happened three times, wherein ships were prevented from transmitting automatic identification signals (AIS).

The AIS transmits a vessel’s position so it could be identified and located by other ships.

PCG CONFIRMS CHINA'S USE OF SIGNAL JAMMERS 

Meanwhile, PCG on Tuesday confirmed that their Chinese counterpart have started using signal jammers against Philippine government vessels at the Bajo de Masinloc.

In a televised briefing, Tarriela said they have monitored at least three instances when the Chinese used signal jammers to prevent Philippine vessels from transmitting their automatic identification signals (AIS).

“This is already the third time that we were able to notice that every time our Coast Guard vessel and BFAR vessel come close to Bajo de Masinloc, at an approximate distance between 15 to 20 nautical miles, napapansin namin, although we are in close contact naman dito sa mga vessels namin that we deploy in Bajo de Masinloc, na nawawala yung AIS (automatic identification) signal nila,” Tarriela said.

“We cannot be able to monitor their AIS movement, and whenever we call them to radio and other communication capability they have, to confirm kung naka-on yung AIS nila, they would say na naka-on naman, and unfortunately, we are not able to monitor them.”

Tarriela says they suspect that China’s use of these signal jammers is not only to prevent Philippine authorities to monitor the presence of Coast Guard and BFAR vessels while they are at sea, particularly in Bajo de Masinloc, but also to support their own narrative that they have succeeded in driving away Filipinos in the area.

“Napapansin namin, everytime our AIS signal of our government vessels ay nawawala, ito rin yung tumatama sa almost same hour na idedeclare ng China na they were successful in driving us away,” he said.

“So what they are doing is they are jamming our AIS signal para hindi rin mahahanap ng any other commercially capable na magmonitor ng AIS para it coincides with their narrative na napaalis nila ang Coast Guard at BFAR (vessels).”

The use of the signal jammers is the latest addition to China’s strategy to drive away Philippine vessels in the resource-rich area in the West Philippine Sea. The Coast Guard earlier confirmed that the CCG has also resumed its deployment of floating barriers every time BFAR and Coast Guard vessels are in the area.

China deploys floating barriers, signal jammers in West PH Sea: PCG

Tarriela says the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has also monitored the presence of a Chinese Navy helicopter patrolling over the airspace of Bajo de Masinloc.

“The BFAR also monitored the Chinese Navy helicopter that flew over dito sa karagatan ng BDM as they try to monitor, ang ginagawa ng BFAR at mga Pilipinong mangingisda rito,” Tarriela said.

“So we try to locate kung saan s'ya nagtake off, at first we were thinking it came from the Chinese Coast Guard vessel, but eventually up close sa photos ng media na naibigay sa amin, it is a gray colored helicopter at there are Chinese markings na ibig sabihin noon, [it] pretty much meant Chinese Navy,” the official said, noting that at least 3 People’s Liberation Army (PLA) warships have been monitored at least 20 nautical miles away from Bajo de Masinloc.

Tarriela in the interview also dismissed China’s claims that its actions in Bajo de Masinloc, which they call as "Huangyan Dao," is only meant to uphold Chinese sovereignty following Manila’s illegal intrusions in the area.

“We have sovereignty sa waters sa Bajo De Masinloc, extended over 12 nautical miles of it, and also outsde those waters falls wihin the exclusive economic zone of our country,” he said.

“This has been the traditional fishing ground ng mga Pilipino for so many years henerasyon na ng mga mangingisda ng Zambales, Pangasinan ang nangingisda dyan,” Tarriela continued, noting that the PCG and the BFAR will continue to maintain their presence at the shoal to ensure the protection of the rights o Filipino fishermen and to support their fishing activities," Tarriela added.

China reasserts sovereignty over Scarborough Shoal

- with a report from Pia Gutierrez, ABS-CBN News

RELATED VIDEO: