The Philippine government is expected to lodge another diplomatic protest against China after its fighter jets orbited a Philippine Air Force aircraft during a recent patrol operation in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Col. Medel Aguilar, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said they have coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to report the details of the incident.

"The Department of Foreign Affairs will continue to file diplomatic protest for their [China's] presence in areas they are not supposed to [be]. They are not supposed to be there so they will continue to file diplomatic protest against China for that action," Aguilar said in a television interview with CNN Philippines on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The AFP earlier reported that two Chinese fighter jets orbited above the flight route of a PAF Super Tucano A-29B aircraft while it was patrolling WPS as part of the maritime cooperative activity (MCA) between the AFP and Australian Defence Force (ADF) on Nov. 26.

Prior to this, a Chinese vessel also shadowed Philippine Navy and Royal Australian Navy vessels while they were jointly patrolling WPS on Nov. 25.

Aguilar said the presence of the Chinese aircraft during the PAF's aerial patrol in the WPS was "illegal".

"If we are going to follow the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea [UNCLOS], the presence of these Chinese aircraft is illegal because the UNCLOS clearly defines that that maritime area belongs to the Philippines' exclusive economic zone," he stated.

"Therefore, they have no reason [to be] 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 accident did not happen," he added.

In 2023, the Philippine government has filed more than 50 diplomatic protests against China for its reported aggressive actions within the latter's 200-nautical mile EEZ.

To further assert its claims in the WPS, the Philippines has teamed up with allied countries such as United States and Australia to launch joint patrols, a move criticized by China as they called out the Philippines for allegedly enlisting foreign forces to patrol South China Sea and stir up trouble.

However, Aguilar reiterated the AFP's stance that the Philippines was not stirring up trouble nor enlisting foreign forces to uphold its sovereignty and sovereign rights in WPS.

"It's not us that is actually asking these foreign countries to join us. They are the ones volunteering because they see that what we are fighting for is in accordance with international law so there is also no reason for them to say that we are stirring trouble in that are," Aguilar said. 

"We are not involved in any act, in any harassment. Contrary to what they [China] are saying, they are the ones doing this water cannoning, this shadowing, these dangerous maneuvers so i think all of these point to them because they are the ones creating trouble in the West Philippine Sea," he added.