The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said it has monitored a “moving” structure at Scarborough Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc, in the West Philippine Sea.
AFP chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Monday night that the structure was seen in an image taken by a Philippine Air Force aircraft during a monitoring flight over the shoal.
“We think it has an antenna,” Brawner told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.
He said the latest image also showed several individuals on the structure.
“Based on the latest image taken by our Philippine Air Force that flew above Bajo de Masinloc, there were people on the top. There were six people at that structure,” Brawner said.
The AFP chief said the military continues to deploy aircraft to monitor developments at Scarborough Shoal, which has been under Chinese control since 2012.
Brawner stressed that the military will not allow the construction of a permanent structure in the area.
“We will not allow an incident to happen again, where a small structure was built and then later on it grew into an artificial island,” he said.
Brawner was referring to Mischief Reef, where China initially built what it described as shelters for fishermen. The reef was later subjected to land reclamation and is now equipped with military facilities and weapon systems.