Philippine fighter jets tested dropped flares during patrol in the West Philippines Sea, the head of the military said Monday.

In an ambush interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said he joined the maritime patrol by FA-50 fighters of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) in the West Philippine Sea last Friday.

During the patrol, Brawner saw how the FA-50 tested its capability to drop flares while flying over the West Philippines Sea.

"We have flares, in fact last Friday I boarded our FA-50 and we patrolled the West Philippine Sea, and we tested our flares. It's all working, we have that capability but then again because we follow international laws we do not do that to others," he said referring to the recent incidents where China fired their flares against Philippine aircraft.

Brawner said the maritime patrol was conducted "at the northern portion of the country's hemisphere" in the West Philippine Sea.

"We continue our maritime patrol because again we are in the right position. We have the legitimate backing which are the international laws and regulations," he said.

Brawner said the testing of PAF FA-50 flares capability was done after recent incidents in the West Philippine Sea where China used its flares against Philippine aircraft.

"Their incidents happened first. We just conducted the testing last Friday," he said.

This month, China fired its flares against Philippine aircraft for three times, the first was when the Chinese jets dropped flares on the path of the Philippine Air Force patrol plane near the Scarborough Shoal on Aug. 8.

This was followed by another incident where Chinese jets also used flares against a Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) aircraft patrolling the vicinity of the same area on Aug. 19 and the third was when China also fired its flares against BFAR aircraft in the vicinity of Subi reef last Aug. 22.

Brawner noted that the recent use of flares and harassment by China escalates the tension in the region, noting that even the aircraft from other countries also experience the same dangerous actions from China.

"It is an escalation definitely but they are not just doing it to us, they also do the same with US, Australia they also release flares (against them), this is form warning the other side but again, for us, for us it is dangerous maneuver because if the flares hit us (aircraft) that's very dangerous," he added. Robina Asido/DMS