Manila faces increasingly hostile encounters inside its own exclusive economic zone, from water-cannon attacks to dangerous Chinese manoeuvres in and around the South China Sea, which is also referred to the West Philippine Sea by Manila.
This comes amid the Philippines, United States and Japan conducting another round of maritime drills in the South China Sea, which is known as the West Philippine Sea by the Philippines.
Using satellite data from Canada's Dark Vessel Detection Program, the PCG identified the vessels Bei Diao 996, Zhuhaiyun, and Xiang Yang Hong 10 within the West Philippine Sea, part of the South China Sea claimed by the Philippines under international law.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Sunday that Filipino military units and their counterparts from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force conducted the second bilateral maritime cooperative exercise in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend.
It found that China's claims to historic rights in maritime areas within its dashed line had no legal basis. It also found that China had violated the Philippines' sovereign rights under UNCLOS and that its vessels had unlawfully created risks of collision and danger.
Philippine officials accused a Chinese government-owned broadcaster of spreading misleading information and propaganda following its claim that a Philippine vessel was intentionally polluting the waters of the South China Sea.
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela, spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, accused China of using automatic identification system (AIS) spoofing to mislead the international community and create public unrest.
Okinotorishima, a remote atoll which lies 1,730 km south of Tokyo and is among the southernmost feature claimed by Japan. Though China and others have argued that the coral reef does not qualify as an island under UN definitions, Japan insists it can use the outpost to extend its exclusive
The United States, has condemned the "unsafe, unlawful, and aggressive conduct" by China which has a long standing defence treaty with the Philippines and has reiterated its support to Manila.
The Chinese naval forces on Sunday orchestrated an aggressive and dangerous manoeuvre near the Hasa-Hasa Shoal commonly known as the Half Moon Shoal, a statement by the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTFWPS) said.