The Philippine Navy has monitored 48 vessels from the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy and the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) across four key maritime features in the West Philippine Sea in the month of July.

The number of vessels was:

Bajo de Masinloc - 22

• 19 - CCG
• 3 - PLA

Ayungin Shoal - 14

• 13 - CCG
• 1 - PLA

Pag-asa Islands - 8

• 5 - CCG
• 3 - PLA

Escoda Shoal - 4

• 3 - CCG
• 1 - PLA

According to Philippine Navy Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Retired Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, these detections are part of the continuous radio challenge and monitoring to track ships entering the country’s maritime domain.

As of July, the Philippine Navy monitored 20,749 vessels (3,071 domestic vessels and 17,678 foreign vessels).

Over 14,000 of these ships responded to the radio challenges, while more than 6,000 failed to respond.

According to the Philippine Navy, these figures reflect China’s ongoing illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive activities in the West Philippine Sea.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Navy assured continuous monitoring, strengthening maritime domain awareness, and safeguarding sovereignty.