MASINLOC, Zambales — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Friday the military is carrying out security measures to protect Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal while expanding patrols across the country’s maritime territory, acknowledging the Armed Forces of the Philippines still lacks enough assets to fully secure Philippine waters.
Teodoro declined to discuss operational details but said safeguarding the disputed shoal and other maritime areas remains a core mission of the military.
“We are looking for different ways to achieve the objective of allowing our fishermen to freely sail and fish in Bajo de Masinloc (Panatag) as soon as possible,” Teodoro said in his remarks during a government aid distribution for fisherfolk in Masinloc.
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“In the meantime, while security arrangements are being carried out to secure Bajo de Masinloc, we have the responsibility to sustain the livelihoods of our fishermen,” he added.
Teodoro said he cannot share the details when asked about the security preparations on the sidelines of the event.
“But what is our job if not to secure the territorial integrity and security of our Republic? That includes all of our areas,” the defense chief said.
Teodoro said the military is strengthening patrols beyond the West Philippine Sea.
“Our approach is 360 degrees because our maritime domain is vulnerable,” he said. “We need to really double-time our efforts to secure our maritime territory.”
However, he acknowledged the country’s maritime assets remain insufficient.
“It is not enough. I admit it is not enough, which is why we need to accelerate our efforts,” he said when asked whether the military has enough vessels to sustain expanded maritime patrols.
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He also maintained that the Philippines—not China—should control the natural resources in Bajo de Masinloc because the traditional fishing ground lies within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The Defense chief made the remarks during the ceremonial turnover of food packs, fish aggregating devices (payao), batteries and fishing gear to local fishermen.
A local fishing leader said many Zambales fishermen no longer fish near Bajo de Masinloc because of encounters with Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
Paulo Quitaneg, president of the Zambales Provincial Fisherfolk Association, said fishermen are still able to sail toward the area but are effectively prevented from fishing there.
“The truth is we can go there, but we cannot fish,” Quitaneg told reporters.
He said the last time he was able to fish freely near Bajo de Masinloc was in 2013. When members of his group sailed near the shoal in 2024 to deploy fish aggregating devices, he said they were immediately met by the China Coast Guard.
He said many fishermen have since shifted to fishing grounds farther from the disputed shoal to avoid confrontations.
Panatag Shoal lies about 220 kilometers west of Luzon, within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. It has been under China’s effective control since a 2012 standoff.
Filipino fishermen have continued to report harassment and restricted access to the rich fishing grounds despite the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling that invalidated China’s expansive South China Sea claims.
Separately, Teodoro urged the public to reject what he described as Chinese disinformation following claims made by Chinese scholars that Batanes is a “geographical extension of Taiwan.”
“It is another lie that we have to fight,” Teodoro said. He said such narratives should be taken seriously because they originate from China’s state-controlled media and could be used to advance Beijing’s broader claims.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines likewise rejected the claim, calling it a form of “salami slicing in the information domain” aimed at gradually altering perceptions of Philippine territory.
AFP spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad said Batanes’ status as Philippine territory is “settled, indisputable and non-negotiable” and vowed that the military would continue defending both the country’s territorial integrity and what it called its “cognitive domain.” /mr
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