AFP confirms China's drills near Bajo de Masinloc

MANILA, August 5 ------ The Philippines confirmed China's recent military drills near Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) as Beijing continued to flex its military power in the South China Sea.

Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said the drills were monitored from July 31 to August 1, involving the deployment of five warships, one replenishment ship, two hovercraft, two helicopters, and an unidentified number of fighter aircraft. “It coincided with the celebration of the 99th anniversary of the PLA last 01 August. As to whether this is a sustainable activity is questionable,” Trinidad told reporters during a media briefing at Camp Aguinaldo.

The exercises also followed the 17th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) conducted from July 21 to 25, 2026, in the waters west of Zambales and east of Bajo de Masinloc, involving the AFP, the United States Pacific Command, and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

The US Navy's USS George Washington (CVN 73) Carrier Strike Group, including USS Santa Barbara, participated in the activity. Meanwhile, the AFP monitored 48 Chinese vessels loitering in the West Philippine Sea in July. “The total number of ships is fairly constant. If you are to graph them from January of this year to July, this would average around 19,000 distinct ships, foreign and domestic, passing through our maritime waters. This will include the illegal presence of the PLA Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard in the four features that we keep a constant monitoring of,” Trinidad said.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com