No confirmation on alleged Chinese jamming equipment: Lorenzana

April 13, 2018

Despite a report about jamming equipment installed by China on two of its claimed areas in the West Philippine Sea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines has not yet experienced any jamming incident during its patrol in the area.

Lorenzana said the Department of National Defense (DND) does not have confirmation about the reported jamming equipment installed in Mischief Reef and Fiery Cross Reef.

“None has been confirmed by us. All reports have been coming from the United States and we have not received any formal communications to that effect,” he said.

“So far our regular patrols in the West Philippine Sea have not reported any incidence of jamming,” Lorenzana added.

Lorenzana said the Philippines will confirm the reported jamming with the use of its own resources.

“We will confirm using our resources if there really are jammers and if so what kind: to disrupt communications or disrupt weapons systems,” he said.

“The jammer is easy to install. There are small (unit) for vehicles for communication jamming, while those that are more sophisticated like for weapon system is much bigger (installed) on the buildings and ships. It can be opened, turned off depending on the mission. Even if you have sensor, you cannot know if it’s not turned on,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS