By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
A PHILIPPINE Air Force fighter jet went missing during a “tactical night operation” in a southern Philippine province at midnight on Tuesday, a military official said, as search efforts were under way.
The FA-50 jet’s two-man crew lost contact with other aircraft involved in the military operation minutes before reaching the target area, where it was expected to provide air support for ground troops, air force spokesperson Ma. Consuelo N. Castillo told a news briefing.
She did not divulge any more details about the incident, citing security concerns.
The military had begun its search operations for the missing fighter jet, which lost contact over land. Its pilots were wearing locator beacons, but she did not disclose if they were emitting signals.
“This is the first major incident involving our fighter aircraft,” Ms. Consuelo said.
The Philippines bought 12 Korean-made FA-50 light fighter jets for a total of P18.9 billion in 2014, with deliveries starting the following year, as part of efforts to modernize its aging military arsenal. The jets are the Southeast Asian nation’s most advanced fighter aircraft in its inventory.
Manila is contemplating getting a dozen more as it seeks to finalize the deal’s term of reference, according to previous news reports.
There are no orders yet to ground the remaining FA-50s, Ms. Consuelo said.
Other military planes involved with the mission managed to safely return to Mactan Airbase in Cebu province, she added.
Also on Tuesday, the Philippine military spotted 260 Chinese ships within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in February, spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla-Taborlupa told the same news briefing.
There were two People’s Liberation Army Navy and nine Chinese coast guard vessels spotted at Scarborough Shoal, according to Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Roy Vincent T. Trinidad.
Philippine authorities also monitored a single Chinese navy ship and seven coast guard vessels at Second Thomas Shoal, he said at the same media briefing.
“Their persistent illegal presence in the West Philippine Sea blatantly disregards the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling and infringes upon our sovereignty and sovereign rights,” said Ms. Taborlupa, referring to areas of the South China Sea within Manila’s 200-nautical mile EEZ.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately reply to a Viber message seeking comment.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, deploying an armada of coast guard vessels to protect what it considers its territory, hundreds of kilometers off its mainland. A United Nations-backed court based in The Hague in 2016 voided its claims for being illegal.
