Jamaine Punzalan

This handout photo from Police Regional Office 5 shows an underwater drone with Chinese markings recovered in Masbate on December 30, 2024.

Article (news)

Underwater drone found off Masbate may have ‘military applications’: PH Navy

Bianca Dava

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:958px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1736233898123DRONE.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This handout photo from Police Regional Office 5 shows an underwater drone with Chinese markings recovered in Masbate on December 30, 2024.</span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — The Philippine Navy on Tuesday said the remotely operated submersible drone recovered in waters off San Pascual, Masbate in December could have military applications.</p><p>“While initial observation suggests that it may be a submersible used for scientific research or fish tracking, alternative perspectives point to possible military applications,” Philippine Navy spokesperson Commander John Percie Alcos told said in a press briefing.</p><p>Local fisherfolk recovered the drone with Chinese markings in waters off Barangay Inarawan on December 30. They then gave the drone to barangay officials, who brought the device to the municipal police.</p><p>The drone was turned over to the Philippine Navy on December 31.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/2/navy-investigates-origin-purpose-of-underwater-drone-recovered-in-masbate-1347">Navy investigates origin, purpose of underwater drone recovered in Masbate</a></div><p>Alcos said the drone was undergoing a six-to-eight-week forensic investigation to determine its origin, purpose and technical specifications.</p><p>“The analysis will examine the object’s physical structure, electronic components, power source and any possible stored data,” he added.</p><p>The Armed Forces of the Philippines said it was on top of the situation and taking the matter “seriously.”</p><p>Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the bright yellow underwater drone marked HY-119 has a length of 3.5 meters, diameter of 24 centimeters and weight of 94 kilograms.</p><p>The official said that despite the Chinese markings, the Navy has yet to establish if the drone was launched by China.</p><p>“A lot of speculation has been going on but let me state that speculation is no substitute for evidence,” Trinidad said.</p><p>“The markings HY-119, from open source, open sources would tell us the manufacturer. But, again, these do not amount to anything. We need hard scientific evidence to say where this came from and what the other parameters surrounding its presence are,” he continued.</p><p>Trinidad added that this was not the first time Filipinos had recovered such objects from our seas. The Philippine military has also recovered “bits and pieces” of similar equipment in waters off the northern islands and eastern seaboards of the country in the past two years.</p><p>“We have recovered some bits and pieces, and a few have been intact,” Trinidad said. “We have done a complete analysis of only one, the first one which arrived in the middle of last year. We are withholding the report considering that we would like to get a bigger picture.”</p><p>“That [was] after August [last year], then another one came out again in September… We’re trying to look at the bigger picture and correlate their numbers. This time of the year, ‘pag tag-ulan, tagbagyo, masama ang panahon, maraming nawa-wash ashore or napapadpad sa ibang lugar na ganitong kagamitan.”</p><div> </div><div><strong>CHOKEPOINTS SECURED</strong></div><div> </div><p>Military historian and defense analyst Jose Antonio Custodio, meanwhile, said in a news report that the discovery of the drone in waters off Masbate could mean that “the Chinese are sending probes to map the area” to look for possible routes to the Pacific Ocean for their naval assets or submarines.</p><p>But the AFP said it was securing the San Bernardino Strait—located off the island province of Masbate—which serves as one of the links between the Philippine internal seas and the Pacific Ocean.</p><p>“Not only San Bernardino Strait, southernmost part of the Bicol Region. The CADC [Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept] also emphasizes the Surigao Strait, Basilan Strait, Basilan Passage, Sibutu Passage, Balabac Passage, Verde Island Passage, and up north, the Balintang or Basi Channel. These are what we call chokepoints. These choke points are covered by the CADC,” Trinidad said.</p><p>“Our littoral monitoring stations are designed to cover the choke points. These are land-based sensors, apart from our ship-based and air surveillance sensors,” he added.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/7/afp-says-not-deterred-by-presence-of-china-s-monster-ship-in-ph-eez-1505">AFP says not deterred by presence of China’s monster ship in PH EEZ</a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/1/5/presence-of-china-monster-ship-in-zambales-a-show-of-force-analyst-1952">Presence of China monster ship in Zambales &#x27;a show of force&#x27;: analyst</a></div>

<p>The Philippine Navy on Tuesday said the remotely operated submersible drone recovered in waters off San Pascual, Masbate in December could have military applications.</p>

The Philippine Navy on Tuesday said the remotely operated submersible drone recovered in waters off San Pascual, Masbate in December could have military applications.