Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana said around 183 vessels believed to be Chinese maritime militia were sighted in West Philippine Sea.

Sobejana said the Chinese maritime militia were sighted during maritime patrol operation on Monday.

Sobejana ordered a maritime patrol to validate the reported presence of more than 200 Chinese maritime militia which was monitored by the National Task Force-West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) at the Julian Felipe reef in West Philippine Sea.

Sobejana said the military will continue to monitor the situation and will conduct joint assessment with the NTF-WPS to determine their next course of action.

"Our mandate is to secure our territory, we really oppose any act of incursion in our territorial waters, including our exclusive economic zone, but on the other hand the NTF- WPS takes into consideration other means so jointly we assess and we will decide what is the best course of action to do in the area," he said.

"For now, we continue our maritime patrol to check if the presence of vessels their in West Philippine Sea increasing or decreasing," he added. Robina Asido/DMS