00:00Forensic tests validate the five aquatic drones believed to be of commercial and military make-end purposes
00:06that were retrieved off of Philippine waters recently had sent signals back to China.
00:11Even more, Senator Majority Leader Francis Tolentino strongly believes the capture and arrest of eavesdroppers
00:17and suspicious observers slash alleged spies on various occasions in the country are all interlinked.
00:24And with China's fingerprints all over them, as our Daniel Manalastas reports.
00:30During the Senate Special Committee on Philippine Maritime and Admiralty Zones,
00:37these drones which were found by Philippine authorities were presented.
00:41But the Philippine Navy cannot confirm yet if the Chinese government is behind this.
00:46The Navy believes this is just the tip of the iceberg.
00:54It only came to our attention when the AFP, based on the guidance of the Commander-in-Chief and the SND,
01:00would now orient ourselves towards the external or the maritime environment.
01:04Doon natin na papansin, may mga reports na ganito.
01:06So sa ngayon, kung ito ay tip of the iceberg,
01:10eh siguro po lahat ng karagatan natin ay may mga ganito na sa ilalim.
01:15Possible, Mr. Chair. Very possible.
01:17At kumakalap ng informasyon.
01:20Trinidad said, information which the drones were gathering could have a different purpose,
01:26possibly for commercial, academic, scientific research, and possibly for military purposes as well.
01:33Ang sinasabi natin, based sa kanyang forensic examination,
01:38nagbato siya na signal sa China.
01:39Yung yellow drone is designed to collect, we call that bathymetric data,
01:45depth of water, salinity, conductivity, oxygen content.
01:49Yung black could also, has the same capability,
01:53but it also has an AVS, acoustic vector sensor.
01:57Nag-pipick up siya na sound.
02:00How sound propagates or travels underwater.
02:05Sound propagation is very critical when it comes to undersea warfare.
02:09And in light of recent events wherein authorities arrested several alleged Chinese spies,
02:15Senator Francis Ollindino believes that all these developments perhaps might all be connected.
02:21Yung espionage sa Kalupaan, sa Makati, yung Palawan 5,
02:27yung sa Sambales, yung sa ilalim ng karagatan,
02:31magkakasama lahat siya ni isang kuri ng gawain niya at espionage.
02:36Magkakatugma lahat siya ni isang related po lahat siya.
02:40At lahat ng tinuturo noon papunta sa People's Republic of China.
02:45For their part, the Philippine Navy admits they need to strengthen their capability to safeguard our maritime environment,
02:54which the Philippine government is also aiming to boost.
02:58Daniel Manalastas from the National TV for a new and better Philippines.
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