The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said on Tuesday that three of the five underwater drones previously recovered in strategic areas within the territorial waters of the country were likely deployed by the "Chinese Communist Party".

In a press conference in Camp Aguinaldo, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad said reports on the result of the forensic analysis of the drones show that there is an over 50 percent likelihood that the recovered underwater gliders or drones were made in China.

"There is a 55 to 80 percent likelihood that these are deployed by the Chinese Communist Party. Why 55 to 80 percent is because of the components inside. Not all of them have markings that were made in China. Others are available commercially off the shelf," he said.

"They have the capability to receive, to process, to store, and to transmit data through satellite communications to a station on land, to a mothership, or to other drones. We are not categorically stating where they came from, but there is a likelihood, a 55 to 80 percent likelihood per the report," he added.

Trinidad explained that the three drones include the first one that was recovered in July 2022 in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, the third glider which is the most intact in Calayan, Cagayan last August 2024 and the fourth drone in Initao, Misamis Oriental last October 2024.

He said the second drone recovered off the coast of Zambales in September 2024 was just debris while the AFP is still waiting for the result of the one discovered off the waters of San Pascual, Masbate in December 2024.

"Of the five in our possession right now, the second was damaged. We received the major component of it, the wave glider. The four others were intact," he added.

Trinidad said the areas where the drones were recovered are "important strategically in the defense and security not only of the country but for international maritime navigation" as it is "used for mapping out the underwater terrain, collecting information", like bathymetric data which is "used across different fields to include underwater warfare."

"The first three were found up north, Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte, Calayan Island, Cagayan, the coastal area of Zambales. These are just a little bit south of Balintang Channel, which is an international sea lane. The fourth one was found in the coastal area of Misamis Oriental, which is just west of Surigao Strait, another choke point. And the fifth was found in Masbate, which is also just west of San Bernardino Strait, another critical choke point," he said.

"In today's generation of warfare, information is key. He who holds information will have an advantage. Any potential adversary who would like to harm our country would need to know the information, not only on land, on air, but more importantly, since we are an archipelago, underwater information. These drones give them that information," he added.

As all of the five drones were recovered with the help of the local Filipino fishermen, Trinidad noted that "any modern armed force in the world will have a big capability gap in searching for this type of equipment, this type of drones."

"As much as they are small, they are not designed to travel on the surface, it would take a good information report, the right place and right time to be able to check them," he said.

"All of these five were turned over to us by our fishermen, and I would like to highlight them. They are an indispensable part of the comprehensive archipelagic defense operations that the AFP conducts. And I would like to give them a shout out...." said Trinidad. Robina Asido/DMS