MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese coast guard is maintaining its presence off the coast of Zambales province and in the waters off Occidental Mindoro province’s Cabra Island in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), well within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ), according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

In a statement on Sunday, February 2, PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said that the CCG vessels, identified as CCG-3301 and CCG-3104, were discovered approximately 34 nautical miles off the coast of Pangasinan through the PCG's Dark Vessel Detection program.