Camille Naredo

This photo taken on September 22, 2023 shows Chinese coast guard personnel aboard their rigid hull inflatable boat beside a floating barrier as they guard a passage to the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Ted Aljibe, AFP/File

This photo taken on September 22, 2023 shows Chinese coast guard personnel aboard their rigid hull inflatable boat beside a floating barrier as they guard a passage to the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. - China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, snatched control of Scarborough Shoal from the Philippines in 2012. Since then, it has deployed coast guard and other vessels to block or restrict access to the fishing ground that has been tapped by generations of Filipinos. (Photo by Ted ALJIBE / AFP)

Article (news)

West PH Sea-Bajo De Masinloc

Agence France-Presse

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/178100857284320230922-bajo-de-masinloc-ccg-AFP.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960" alt="This photo taken on September 22, 2023 shows Chinese coast guard personnel aboard their rigid hull inflatable boat beside a floating barrier as they guard a passage to the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Ted Aljibe, AFP/File"/>This photo taken on September 22, 2023 shows Chinese coast guard personnel aboard their rigid hull inflatable boat beside a floating barrier as they guard a passage to the Chinese-controlled Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea. Ted Aljibe, AFP/File</div>MANILA -- The Philippines said on Tuesday it has filed a formal protest with China over a &quot;floating structure&quot; spotted near the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, the site of repeated clashes in the South China Sea.Scarborough Shoal lies 240 kilometers (150 miles) west of the Philippines&#x27; main island of Luzon and nearly 900 kilometres from Hainan, the nearest major Chinese land mass.China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea despite a 2016 court ruling that said its claims had no basis in international law.Beijing revealed plans in September to create a &quot;nature reserve&quot; at Scarborough, prompting Manila&#x27;s former national security adviser Eduardo Ano to call it a &quot;clear pretext towards eventual occupation&quot;.Foreign affairs department spokeswoman Analyn Ratonel confirmed on Tuesday that Manila had issued a protest over the new structure, said to be located at the entrance of a lagoon once used by Filipino fishermen.<div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2026/6/9/afp-chief-confirms-moving-structure-in-lagoon-of-bajo-de-masinloc-0006">READ: AFP chief confirms moving structure in lagoon of Bajo de Masinloc</a></div>Manila &quot;has undertaken the appropriate diplomatic action, such as several demarches and the issuance of a formal protest, against the structure&quot;, Ratonel told reporters in a messaging app group chat.The message came a day after Philippine military chief of staff Romeo Brawner told a government television station that air force planes had spotted a structure with six people atop it and what appeared to be an antenna.&quot;We will not allow a repeat of what happened in the past when they initially put up a small structure and then later on it grew into an artificial island,&quot; he said in an apparent reference to reefs in the area that China has turned into militarized islands.&quot;We will not allow that at Scarborough Shoal,&quot; he said, pledging increased air and sea patrols to monitor developments in the area.In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Manila repeated Beijing&#x27;s &quot;indisputable&quot; claim to Scarborough as part of its &quot;inherent territory&quot;.&quot;It is fully within China&#x27;s sovereign rights to carry out activities including scientific research at Huangyan Dao,&quot; embassy spokesman Ji Lingpeng said, using China&#x27;s name for Scarborough Shoal.

The Philippines said on Tuesday it has filed a formal protest with China over a "floating structure" spotted near the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, the site of repeated clashes in the South China Sea.

The Philippines said on Tuesday it has filed a formal protest with China over a "floating structure" spotted near the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, the site of repeated clashes in the South China Sea.

Philippines protests over Chinese structure built near Bajo de Masinloc

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Philippines protests over Chinese structure built near Bajo de Masinloc

Agence France-Presse

Published June 09, 2026 08:37 PM PHT

Read More:

Bajo de Masinloc

Philippines

China

maritime dispute

Scarborough Shoal

South China Sea

West Philippine sea

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