00:00 Little by little, slowly but steadily, the country's beefing up its fleet of patrol
00:05 ships and air assets to protect its rightsful claim and exercise its sovereign rights on
00:11 the territories within the country's exclusive economic zone.
00:15 The latest hardware care of America's cooperation turned over to the AFP and DND earlier today
00:22 in this report from our Bea Bernardo.
00:27 The country's third reconnaissance aircraft from the United States had been turned over
00:31 to the Philippine Air Force.
00:33 Defense Secretary Gilberto Trudoro Jr. led the turnover ceremony at Clark Air Base in
00:38 Pampanga.
00:39 The Cessna C-208B Grand Caravan Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Aircraft is
00:45 known for its flexibility, capable of staying up to five hours in the air.
00:50 This is part of the US$33 million grant to the Philippines.
00:54 According to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, it will help a lot in guarding the country's
01:00 maritime territories.
01:02 This aircraft will boost our capability of patrolling our maritime seas.
01:09 The first two units arrived in the country in 2017.
01:12 With the AFP reviewing the list of assets for Horizon 3 of the modernization program,
01:17 Bronner said that because the strategic direction of the countries have changed in protecting
01:22 the Philippine territory, the requested assets will also change regarding our nine features
01:28 in the West Philippine Sea taking priority.
01:31 It is expected the list will be finalized before the end of the year.
01:35 We have to build up our capabilities as soon as possible.
01:38 So this cannot be delayed.
01:40 And we are working day and night to try to establish our own systems.
01:50 Following the coral destruction in Rizal Reef and Escoda Shoal, the Philippine Coast Guard
01:54 reported the corals they saw are all dead.
01:57 They also noticed that some of the dead corals had been thrown back to the sea.
02:02 It is now being investigated by the agency.
02:04 The Philippine Coast Guard is coordinating with the UPMSI to help us to evaluate what
02:10 is the reason why the corals in this vicinity died.
02:16 And then also to get a sample of the corals that they dumped.
02:25 The defense chief said it is validating the incident and the course of action to take
02:29 will depend on it.
02:31 China is allegedly behind the coral bleaching and destruction.
02:34 According to the arbitral court, that is a violation of an international treaty, the
02:39 destruction of maritime life.
02:41 Particularly if the coral destruction is a cause of or used for reclamation of artificial
02:50 islands.
02:51 The Department of Foreign Affairs also expressed concern.
02:54 The department calls on those involved to be more responsible and avoid activities that
02:59 cause damage to the marine environment.
03:02 Bea Bernardo for The Nation.
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