Army Aviation Regiment holds 2-day air patrol over Mindanao waters
Philippine News Agency
By Priam Nepomuceno
July 15, 2025, 5:44 pm
MANILA -- The Army Aviation Regiment (AAR) conducted a two-day maritime air patrol (MARPAT) over Mindanao waters, the Philippine Army (PA) said Tuesday.
In a statement, PA spokesperson Col. Louie Dema-ala said the MARPAT took place from July 12 to 13 to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the 2016 Arbitral Ruling favoring the Philippines' case against China in connection with the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
"The two-day MARPAT mission was flown by the Special Mission Aviation Company, a subordinate unit of the Aviation Regiment, on the archipelagic waters and territorial seas of Zamboanga Peninsula, Maguindanao del Norte and the islands of Basilan and Sulu," Dema-ala said.
On June 11, the AAR also conducted a MARPAT mission on the archipelagic waters and territorial seas of Aurora, Isabela and Cagayan provinces, as well as in the exclusive economic zone where the Philippine Rise is located.
The AAR also carried out a similar MARPAT mission in Central and Eastern Visayas last month.
Dema-ala said the PA leadership lauded the AAR for its sustained conduct of MARPAT missions, which support the Army's Land Defense Concept, an integral component of the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept of the Department of National Defense.
The Arbitral Ruling, released by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on July 12, 2016, invalidated China's so-called nine-dash line.
The invisible demarcation, which has since expanded into a 10-dash line, covers and lays territorial claim over a huge portion of the South China Sea, including the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the WPS. (PNA)
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