FROM WATER CANNONS TO FLARES A Chinese fighter jet in the distance drops flares into the path of a Philippine Air Force plane conducting a routine maritime patrol over Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) on Aug. 8, as shown in this screengrab from a video that a government source shared with the Inquirer.
MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Monday said China’s aircraft dropping of flares in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea is expected as the Manila continues to assert its sovereign rights.
Chinese fighter jets fired flares into a path of a Philippine Air Force plane last Aug. 8, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said over the weekend.
“We have to expect that it is a consistent pattern,” Teodoro said in an ambush interview in reaction to China’s actions.
READ: AFP chief: China fighters ‘endangered’ PAF plane
“This is a continuous struggle for presence and for assertion of sovereign rights in the area so you have to expect these things to happen,” he added.
No less than President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos called Chinese Air Force move as as “unjustified, illegal and reckless.”
Teodoro also highlighted the importance of lodging a diplomatic protest to condemn Beijing’s latest action.
READ: West PH Sea: Marcos condemns China’s ‘dangerous’ actions vs PH military plane
“We cannot not do it, or else we are acquiescing,” Teodoro said of diplomatic protest.
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