Cayetano: Government has more info on South China Sea than in media reports

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government is on top of recent developments in the South China Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said Wednesday.

The secretary made this statement in response to a newspaper report that Chinese military transport aircraft have been spotted on Panganiban, or Mischief, Reef, where Beijing has installed military facilities.

Cayetano said that the US and Japan have been helping the Philippines monitor the country's territory.

"In fact, we know much more than what is published in the newspapers or released by US think tanks because we see the bigger picture, so I have to first thank them because the starting point is fact-finding and being able to monitor," Cayetano said in a press briefing.

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'Unwritten protocol'

He added that the DFA is taking all diplomatic actions needed to protect the country's claims.

Cayetano also confirmed the earlier disclosure of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that the Chinese have been warning off Philippine planes flying over disputed features in the South China Sea.

"When foreign vessels enter what... we claim as our territory, we send them messages, 'You are entering Philippine airspace, Philippine territory, Philippine maritime territory,'" Cayetano said.

The DFA chief, however, did not directly address reports that China has deployed military jamming equipment on Kagitingan, which is also called Fiery Cross Reef, and on Mischief Reef.

Cayetano said that the government is following an "unwritten protocol" in dealing with the issue.

"The reality is that different claimants have different facilities and if, in every time there's an improvement or there's something new there, we start shouting at each other, we will lose the momentum on the areas that we have had agreements," he said.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing has installed equipment capable of jamming communications and radar systems on its artificial islands.

"While China has maintained that the construction of the islands is to ensure safety at sea, navigation assistance, search and rescue, fisheries protection and other nonmilitary functions, electronic-jamming equipment is only for military use," a US Defense Department official told Wall Street Journal.