PH’s BRP Diego Silang challenges China navy ships during Escoda Shoal patrol

RADIO CHALLENGE. The crew of the BRP Diego Silang issues radio challenges against Chinese navy vessels as it patrols Escoda Shoal on August 22, 2026.

Bea Cupin/Rappler

Five Chinese vessels — both gray and white — tail the Philippines’ Diego Silang and BRP Teresa Magbanua during a maritime patrol in the West Philippine Sea

AT A GLANCE

• On August 22, 2026, the Philippine Navy's BRP Diego Silang engaged in a maritime exercise near Escoda Shoal, facing multiple Chinese vessels from the People's Liberation Army Navy and China Coast Guard.
• During the exercise, the Silang issued radio challenges to the PLAN ships, asserting Philippine sovereignty and demanding they leave the area, while also being tailed by Chinese vessels attempting to force a course change.
• Captain John Pierce Alcos emphasized the Philippine Navy's commitment to protecting the country's waters, regardless of the number of adversaries, highlighting the ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

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WEST PHILIPPINE SEA — It was one, and later two, versus five others in waters close to Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea as the BRP Diego Silang (FFG7) began a maritime domain awareness exercise on August 22, 2026.

As a junior officer of the Silang was preparing to issue the Philippine Navy ship’s first radio challenge against a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ship some seven nautical miles away, the speaker system on the ship’s bridge crackled. The slow and deliberate voice of a Chinese sailor echoed through the bridge, claiming Beijing’s “indesputable sovereignty” over Escoda Shoal, low-tide feature where sovereignty cannot be claimed.

Rappler was one of two media groups that joined the week-long sail, which was part of the Philippines’ 19th Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity in its waters.

It’s the PLAN’s first response to the Silang after challenges that went unanswered all afternoon the day prior, in the evening, and in the morning on August 22, as the Navy’s newest frigate was on its way to a point close to Escoda where she would meet with Australia’s HMAS Supply and the United States Pacific Command’s USS Sta. Barbara. Sailing close to the Silang since it exited the immediate vicinity of the Philippines’ shores was the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)’s BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was also part of the exercise.

Just as slowly and deliberately, the Silang’s junior officer spoke into a phone handset. It’s her voice that the bridge over at the PLAN warship will hear.

“PLA Navy 536 this is Philippine Navy warship 7. You are a state party to UNCLOS. You are endangering our security. Leave the vicinity immediately, over.”

The exchange lasted several more times, before another PLAN warship approached the Silang and issued a challenge, too. Over an hour and a half, Silang challenged both PLAN warships — demanding it disclose its plans and next planned port stop. The PLAN warships would also respond with their own challenge.

The Magbanua, too, exchanged challenges with a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel that had been tailing and sailing close to it for as long as the first PLAN vessel started tailing the Silang.

At certain points during the sail, PLAN and CCG vessels seemingly positioned themselves to try to force the Silang to change its course.

All in all, some five Chinese vessels — from both the PLAN and CCG — tailed the Silang and “tried to outmaneuver and force us to deviate from our intended position,” said the Silang’s commanding officer, Captain John Pierce Alcos. The same happened a month ago, he told reporters on August 25, during the ship’s last West Philippine Sea mission.

“It does not  matter if it’s one against four, one against five, one against 100. We will remain steadfast in performing our mandate of protecting the waters that rightfully belong to the Filipino people. We are Filipinos. We do not yield,” Alcos told media.

Escoda Shoal is located just over 100 nautical miles from Palawan and is inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. It is the feature closest to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, a flashpoint for tensions between the Philipipnes and China in the West Philippine Sea. China claims almost all of the South China Sea despite a 2016 Arbitral Award that deemed it supposed historical claim without basis. – Rappler.com