Despite the pullout of government-controlled vessels from Scarborough Shoal as ordered by President Aquino last week, top Defense and military officials yesterday maintained that there was continuous monitoring of the disputed territory through aerial surveillance.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told reporters that “aerial surveillance” in Scarborough Shoal has been continuing, apparently to monitor situation in the disputed area.
Surveillance aircraft of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Navy are doing the monitoring, he said.
“We are doing that (air surveillance)…but bad weather is hampering it…we are flying there, that is ours,” Gazmin stressed, adding that “airplanes from the Coast Guard and Philippine Navy are doing that alternately,” he added.
On June 15, Aquino ordered the pullout of a PCG’s search and rescue vessel and a maritime surveillance ship of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) from the contested shoal, citing bad weather and rough seas
prevailing in the area.
The Aquino government said the safety of the personnel of PCG and BFAR is paramount.
For his part, Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino de la Cruz echoed Gazmin’s pronouncements.
“We are doing that (aerial inspection)… the airplane just takes photographs, there is nothing wrong with it,” he said.
Asked about the frequency of the surveillance flights, De la Cruz replied “there is no regular schedule for that.”
A reliable source said an Islander plane from the Coast Guard conducted on Thursday reconnaissance flights in Scarborough Shoal but yielded nothing.
“They flew earlier (but it was) super overcast, nothing is visible from above,” the source said.
Gazmin earlier said he would recommend the return of government vessels in Scarborough Shoal when the weather improves to assert the country’s ownership of the area as he noted the continuing presence of Chinese government-controlled ships there.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Navy has started repairs on its second Hamilton cutter, named BRP Alcaraz, in the United States and training its personnel in handling the second weather high endurance class (WHEC) vessel acquired from the US Coast Guard.
Navy Flag Officer in Command Vice Adml. Alexander Pama also yesterday said the government will be spending higher than the P400 million spent in the acquisition of its first ever Hamilton class cutter – BRP Gregorio del Pilar, also from the US Coast Guard last year.
According to him, the higher cost was due to installation of communication and weapons systems which were not included in the acquisition.
“Our focus now is the preparations of Alcaraz. In fact, we have part of the crew now in Charleston, South Carolina, they are already undergoing training now and some repairs on the ship,” Pama said.
“The actual payment we made for the second Hamilton is a little bit more than we paid for Del Pilar,” he added.
The Navy official, however, could not say how much the government will be paying for BRP Alcaraz.
Pama said the funds to acquire BRP Alcaraz came from the Department of Energy.
Last year, the Navy acquired BRP Gregorio del Pilar from the US Coast Guard, without its weapons and communication systems, costing the government more than P400 million.
The Aquino government negotiated for the inclusion of the original weapons and communications systems of the second Hamilton but did not succeed.
“Well, we cannot demand. We asked if it’s possible, we also understand that they also have their regulations to follow. And I said, whatever is in there, we will optimize what we can…so the things that were really needed but were not included, we were given the funds by the government to buy,” Pama said.