The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will file a diplomatic protest against the "illegal" presence of the Chinese fighter jets that circled above the Philippine Air Force (PAF) aircraft during its patrol in the West Philippine Sea over the weekend, the Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman said Tuesday.

In a television interview, Col. Medel Aguilar, AFP spokesman said the presence of the Chinese fighter jets within the Philippine exclusive economic zone is illegal based on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"If we are going to follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea the presence of these Chinese aircraft is illegal because the UNCLOS clearly define that that maritime area belongs to the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone and therefore they have no reason on that area and much more undertake activities that will cause harm or may result to accident but of course they were also flying from a distance so the incident did not, the accident did not happen," he said.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs will continue to file diplomatic protest for their presence in areas they are not supposed to, they are not supposed to be there so this will continue to, they will continue to file diplomatic protest against China for that action," he added.

However, Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Teresita Daza said the DFA is still waiting for the report from the National Task Force West Philippine Sea to confirm if the incident warrants a filing of diplomatic protest.

"The Philippines respects freedom of navigation and overflight in line with UNCLOS. We will await the full and verified reports from the agencies concerned to see if the filing of protest is warranted," she said.

Aguilar said it is the first time that Chinese aircraft made such a maneuver towards the Philippine Air Force patrol aircraft in the West Philippine Sea.

"To our aircraft yes, it's the first time but to other, to aircraft coming from other countries they did already, sometime, earlier this year or, if I'm not mistaken that was in May this year when they tried to conduct dangerous maneuvers while an aircraft coming from the United States and Japan were also on flight over that area," he said.

The aerial encounter of Philippine and Chinese aircraft occurred during the second-day of the maritime cooperative activities (MCA) between the Philippines and Australia over the weekend.

The three-day MCA was concluded in a passing exercise (PASSEX) between the Australian warship HMAS Toowoomba (FFH156) and BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (PS15) in the West Philippine Sea which also signaled the departure of Australian forces on Monday.

"The culminating PASSEX included Officer of the Watch maneuvers, communications checking, and cross-decking to ensure seamless interoperability in real-life engagements," Col. Xerxes Trinidad, AFP public affairs office chief said Tuesday.

"This closing activity is a fitting representation of the stronger PH-AUS defense and military partnership in the advancement of a rules-based international order," he added. Robina Asido/DMS