Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin (above) said the June 4 incident off western Palawan province is the latest foreign intrusion into Philippine territorial waters, where the military has previously accused Chinese military and civilians ships of illegal incursions. -- PHOTO: AFP
MANILA - AN UNIDENTIFIED fighter plane flew within several metres of a boatload of Filipino fishermen in Philippine waters near the disputed Spratly Islands, scaring them into leaving the fishing area, the defence chief said on Monday.
Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the June 4 incident off western Palawan province is the latest foreign intrusion into Philippine territorial waters, where the military has previously accused Chinese military and civilians ships of illegal incursions.
The fishermen, shaken but unharmed, immediately left the area they locally call Dalagang Bukid Shoal, about 210km off Palawan Province's Balabac Island. The fishermen failed to identify the aircraft, which buzzed about six metres over the tip of an antennae of their vessel.
Mr Gazmin declined to speculate on the aircraft's identity but said most incursions into the Philippine waters in and near the Spratlys have been blamed on Chinese vessels.
The Spratlys, a chain of barren, largely uninhabited islands, reefs and banks in the South China Sea are claimed wholly by China, Taiwan and Vietnam and partly by the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei. The islands are believed to be rich oil and natural gas and straddle .
The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of intruding at least nine times into Philippine waters in recent months, while Vietnam says Chinese vessels have hindered its oil exploration surveys in an area 370km off its central coast that it claims as its economic exclusive zone. -- AP
