The Philippine defense chief condemned China's deployment of a swarm of armed coast guard forces, backed by a helicopter and a drone, closer to the Philippines' military outpost in a fiercely disputed atoll in the South China Sea.

Analysts said the display is part of Beijing's efforts to project strength after an August 11 collision that damaged a coast guard vessel.

Philippine military says there is an increase in Chinese vessels, including coastguard and militia ships, near shoal.

China has deployed coast guard ships and several militia vessels close to the wreck of a long-grounded Philippine military ship in a disputed South China Sea shoal, where Filipino forces have been put on alert.

China and the Philippines on Sunday accused each other of causing collisions in a disputed area of the South China Sea, the latest in a string of maritime confrontations between the two countries ...

Edison Palattao, a 52-year-old fisherman in Aparri, Cagayan, still can’t move on from how the extraction of river sand made their lives miserable. “It really made our lives worse,” he recalled as he blamed the extraction of sand from the Cagayan River as the reason behind the serious decline in fish and aramang catch.

Since 2023, Manila has stepped up its pushback against China's expanding presence within its maritime zone, at times leading to clashes and raising concerns an incident could trigger the U.S.–Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty. The tensions have driven the Philippines to pursue closer defense ties with the U.S. and several other countries.

Exercise Alon comes as Australia and the Philippines deepen their defence partnership in the face of repeated incidents involving China.