Jamaine Punzalan

Article (news)

Bianca Dava

ABS-CBN News

<p>MANILA — A Chinese fighter jet came about 200 feet above a Philippine Coast Guard aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday.</p><p>The PCG Cessna Caravan was conducting a maritime domain awareness flight around 8 a.m. when the incident occurred. </p><p>PCG personnel and journalists were onboard when the People’s Liberation Army Naval Air Force (PLANAF) J-15 fighter jet came as close as 500 feet from the side and 200 feet above the Philippine aircraft.</p><p>&quot;Every time we conduct an MDA flight over BDM, they are also harassing and endangering the safety of the coast guard aircraft,” PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela told reporters in an interview.</p><p>“So far, this year, this is the first time that we saw a jet fighter intercepting a routine MDA flight being conducted by the PCG,” he added.</p><p>Bajo de Masinloc is located 124 nautical miles west of mainland Zambales, well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).</p><p>On the other hand, it is 472 nautical miles from Hainan Province, China’s nearest land mass. The shoal, however, has been under Beijing’s control since 2012.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RADIO CHALLENGES</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L6Hl2fD9Ta4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>During the MDA flight, the PCG aircraft repeatedly received radio challenges from the PLA Navy vessel with bow number 553.</p><p>“Our coast guard pilots responded accordingly to the PLAN 553 that was challenging the MDA flight being conducted by the PCG,” Tarriela said.</p><p>The Philippines refers to parts of the waters within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as the West Philippine Sea.</p><p>These include maritime areas on the western side of the archipelago, including the waters around, within and adjacent to Bajo de Masinloc and the Kalayaan Island Group.</p><p>China continues to assert that nearly the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, is part of its territory, citing its so-called &quot;ten-dash line&quot; historical map.</p><p>However, this claim was invalidated by the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which declared China’s actions illegal and upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea. </p><div><br/></div><div><strong>SEARCH OPERATIONS?</strong></div><p>The MDA flight was conducted two days after <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/8/11/2-chinese-ships-collide-after-chasing-philippine-vessel-in-bajo-de-masinloc-pcg-1102">a PLA Navy warship and a CCG ship collided</a> while pursuing a Filipino patrol boat near Bajo de Masinloc.</p><p>The incident occurred as the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua and BRP Suluan escorted boats distributing aid to fishermen in the area.</p><p>A video released by the PCG showed that there were around four personnel of the CCG 3104 at the front of their vessel, installing a fender, when they were suddenly rammed by the PLA Navy vessel with bow number 164.</p><p>Immediately after the impact, the four personnel could no longer be seen in the video.</p><p>The CCG ship sustained heavy damage in the incident.</p><p>There is still no official confirmation from the Chinese government on whether any CCG personnel were killed or injured.</p><p>Based on monitoring by maritime security expert and Sealight director Ray Powell on Tuesday, Chinese vessels appeared to be conducting search operations 15 to 25 nautical miles from Bajo de Masinloc, following a search pattern.</p><p>“I think that was an operation they conducted yesterday. But today, based on our MDA flight, it is very difficult to tell whether they are still conducting a search and rescue over the sea area where we believe the incident happened,” Tarriela said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>CHINESE VESSELS</strong></div><p>On Wednesday morning, at least ten Chinese ships were monitored in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc.</p><p>These include two warships of the PLA Navy—with bow numbers 553 and 568; four ships of the CCG—with bow numbers 5303, 4202, 3502 and 5306; and six Chinese maritime militia vessels.</p><p>“As you can see, there is no more CCG 3104 within the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc,” Tarriela noted. “I cannot speculate on the whereabouts of the CCG ship that was damaged last Monday. But the reason why we conducted an MDA flight was to confirm whether it is no longer there and towed somewhere else.”</p><p>“It is also worth noting that we no longer saw PLAN 164, which is also one of the vessels involved in the collision,” he added.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>US NAVY SHIPS</strong></div><p>Two United States Navy warships are currently deployed in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc, Tarriela confirmed.</p><p>On Wednesday, the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG-76) and the littoral combat ship USS Cincinnati (LCS-20) were monitored at a distance of 30 nautical miles from the shoal.</p><p>They are being tailed by the PLAN 568.</p><p>During the MDA flight, journalists heard the two vessels exchange radio challenges.</p><p>According to Tarriela, the US warships are conducting routine freedom of navigation operations.</p><p>“This is in support of the US’ freedom of navigation and overflight. As to whether it is related to the incident on Monday, that will be speculative unless it was otherwise stated in their statement,” the official said.</p>

<p>A Chinese fighter jet came about 200 feet above a Philippine Coast Guard aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday.</p>

A Chinese fighter jet came about 200 feet above a Philippine Coast Guard aircraft over Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal on Wednesday.

China fighter jet comes within 200 feet of Philippine aircraft in Bajo de Masinloc

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China fighter jet comes within 200 feet of Philippine aircraft in Bajo de Masinloc

Bianca Dava,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 13, 2025 03:57 PM PHT

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Updated August 13, 2025 05:23 PM PHT

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