The West Philippine Sea. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — The Russian attack submarine reportedly spotted in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) was not actually inside the Philippine territory, National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said on Monday.
In a public briefing, Malaya said they radio challenged the captain of the submarine to determine the reason for their presence in the area.
READ: Russian attack sub spotted in West PH Sea
“Ito pong parte kung nasaan siya [Russian attack submarine] namataan, hindi siya territorial sea ng Pilipinas. Okay, nasa high seas siya, nasa exclusive economic zone. So technically, the Russian ship is exercising freedom of navigation,” he said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon briefing.
(This area where it [the Russian attack submarine] was spotted is not within the territorial sea of the Philippines. It is on the high seas, within the exclusive economic zone. So technically, the Russian ship is exercising freedom of navigation.)
“Sinabi niya na galing siya ng exercises, PASSEX exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy sa Kota Kinabalu, sa Malaysia, and on the way na siya pabalik sa kanyang naval based sa Vladivostok,” he said.
(He said that he came from exercises, PASSEX exercises with the Royal Malaysian Navy in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and was on his way back to his naval base in Vladivostok.)
The captain said they were just waiting for the weather to improve before going back to Russia, Malaya said.
READ: West PH Sea: Marcos says Russian submarine sighting ‘very worrisome’
In an ambush interview earlier in the day, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said that the sighting of the submarine was “very worrisome.”
Asked how alarming the sighting was, he responded, “All of that is very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines is very worrisome. Yes, it’s just another one.”
In a Philippine Daily Inquirer report Monday, it said that military security sources confirmed the sighting of an underwater vessel, the Russian Navy’s Ufa, in the WPS.
It was first spotted 148 kilometers (80 nautical miles) west off Occidental Mindoro.