The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) confirmed on Monday that the China Coast Guard (CCG) had installed floating barriers in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) on February 22.
PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela said that the CCG deployed floating barriers a few hours prior to monitoring the presence of Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessels.
According to Tarriela, they hypothesized that whenever the BFAR sends their vessel, the CCG installs the barrier, pointing out the fisherfolk who spotted the floating barriers in Bajo de Masinloc.
He added that CCG removes the barrier when the sees no sign of Philippine vessels in the area, and that China’s illegal actions include jamming the tracking system of the Philippine vessels.
Moreover, he stated that the ships have been prevented from transmitting automatic identification signals (AIS), which has already happened for the third time, as the AIS system determines the ships’ exact location.
Tarriela stated that they have been suspecting that the people of the Republic of China have the capability to jam the AIS transmission, narrating that during the deployment of BRP Teresa Magbanua, the AIS system was turned on; however, a signal jam happened, and the BRP Datu Tamblot experienced the same situation.
Due to signal jamming, the PCG cannot monitor the ships, but despite the situation, it can still communicate and monitor the situation of the ships that are sailing out and find out that they are safe.
