Navy official says PH beefing up maritime domain awareness
Philippine News Agency
By Priam Nepomuceno
April 8, 2025, 8:15 pm
CAMP MATEO CAPINPIN, Tanay -- A ranking Philippine Navy (PN) official on Tuesday said the country's maritime domain awareness (MDA) capability must be developed further before it can conduct comprehensive archipelagic defense operations.
In an interview at the 2nd Infantry Division headquarters at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, PN spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said MDA is a priority of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
He said air, land, sea, and space-based platforms for MDA purposes are being looked into and acquired by the AFP.
Trinidad said the MDA will provide the AFP with critical information on who is intruding or entering the Philippines' vast maritime territories.
"Before we go there, we need to know what's there. Before we conduct comprehensive archipelagic defense operations, we need to know what's out there," he said.
A total of 15,606 maritime vessels, both foreign and domestic, have been monitored in the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in March, Trinidad said.
Of these, 12,683 were foreign ships.
Meanwhile, around 40 People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels were spotted in the WPS this March.
The number is broken down into eight PLAN vessels and 14 CCG ships in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal); six CCG vessels in Ayungin Shoal; and seven PLAN and five CCG ships in Sabina Shoal.
"We could not, we do not, speculate on the number of PLAN ships in our EEZ. Suffice it to say that we have been conducting our patrols on sea and on air to show that we are not deterred by their presence within our EEZ," Trinidad noted.
On April 1 and 2, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) monitored research vessels within the country's archipelagic waters.
The ships were trailed and challenged by the PCG, with the PN, unified commands and AFP headquarters monitoring the developments.
"We (are) prepared to respond to provide support if needed," Trinidad said. (PNA)
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