
China Coast Guard 5901, or the “Monster Ship,” off the coast of Zambales on January 5, 2025. Handout/Philippine Coast Guard
ABS-CBN NEWS | Published January 27, 2025
MANILA – The fresh harassment from the China Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea was expected as China continues to express its dismay against the Philippines amid the deployment of the United States’ typhon missiles, an analyst said Sunday.
According to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), CCG-3103 harassed BRP Cabra on Saturday afternoon using a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) while the latter continued to deter its presence nearby Zambales coast.
LRADs are specialized loudspeakers that can emit sound at a high enough volume to cause damage to eardrums as well as permanent hearing loss.
“Part ito ng tinatawag natin na Chinese greyzone operation. Lahat ng means, measures, gagawin ng Chinese Coast Guard, Chinese maritime militia short of the actual use of force, In a way hindi na yan bago kasi consistent yan,” said Prof. Renato De Castro, who teaches international studies at the De La Salle University.
“I-expect na natin yan kasi mainit ang ulo sa atin ng Tsina. Hindi lang sa pagtutunggali natin sa kanila sa West Philippine Sea. Everything here that’s happening… mayroon talagang intention ang China na ipamukha sa atin, ipahiwatig sa amin, hindi kami natutuwa sa inyo,” he said.
“It’s part of a pattern. Except ngayon ang ginamit nila is an acoustic device na irritating sa ear, could damage your ear drums but this is not yet a, we cannot call this a kinetic use of force. Let’s expect, this is not new, let’s expect whatever force they would do, short of actual use of force,” de Castro added.
The analyst said the Philippines should continue expecting the worst.
He also urged the Philippine government not to heed China’s call to withdraw the typhon missile launchers, as this could be used in the future to beef up security.
“Tandaan natin malaki ang kanilang Coast Guard fleet, kita natin hindi lang isa kundi tatlo. I-expect natin yan na baka mag-deploy pa sila ng sampu. Ipinamumukha sa atin na kaya namin diyan mag-deploy,” he said.
“Let’s not even think na dapat natin tanggalin ang typhon missiles natin… Kapag tinulak na talaga ng mga Tsino beyond the greyzone, paggamit ng dahas, mayroon na tayong panangga doon. Sana hindi tayo dumating sa ganoong punto. Sana huwag.”
Philippine defense and military officials had rejected China’s demand for the removal of the said missile launchers from Philippine territory.
This, after the Asian power earlier said the transfer of the missile launchers to another spot in Luzon was a dangerous move.
These typhon missile launchers can fire multipurpose missiles up to thousands of kilometers — from Laoag airfield in the Philippines to another location on the island of Luzon, based on a report.
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SOURCE: www.abs-cbn.com
RELATED: China Coast Guard uses sonic device to harass PCG near Zambales

The China Coast Guard vessel 5901 also referred to as monster ship due to its size is seen sailing in the West Philippine Sea off the coast of Zambales on Saturday, January 25, 2025. The BRP Cabra of the Philippine Coast Guard continues to vigilantly safeguard the Zambales coastline from the Chinese vessels, PCG says. PCG
GMA NETWORK NEWS | Published January 27, 2025
A Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessel sailing off the coast of Zambales in the West Philippine Sea used a long range acoustic device (LRAD) on Saturday to harass again the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
PCG said it was the first time that CCG-3103, which replaced CCG-3304 in “maintaining illegal patrol” in the area, employed an LRAD against the PCG’s 54-meter vessel BRP Cabra that has been safeguarding the Zambales coastline.
The LRAD was described by crew members as a device producing high decibel levels that can be painful and damaging to hearing.
Currently, the CCG is pushed back to a position between 90 and 95 nautical miles from the Zambales shore, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said. This is still well within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.
“The reason why we are deploying coast guard vessels… to ensure that we are not going to escalate the tension. As far as our actions na ginagawa dito sa pagbabantay ng iligal na presensiya ng [that we do to monitor the illegal presence of the] China Coast Guard, we are also conducting an hourly…radio challenge…even in the middle of the night,” Tarriela said in a Super Radyo dzBB interview on Sunday.
Tarriela also stressed that the PCG wants the CCG to internalize the message that they are illegally sailing within the Philippines’ EEZ, citing the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
“Through this, we believe we are not just warning the Chinese government because we are telling them that these are all documented at ang ginagawa nga natin is [and what we do is] we forward this on a daily basis to the National Task Force West Philippine Sea, and the data that we also present is also submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs,” he added.
GMA News Online sought a comment from the Chinese Embassy in Manila regarding the LRAD used against the PCG, and will update this story once it responds.
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SOURCE: www.gmanetwork.com
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