More C-17 Globemasters spotted in Manila and Palawan
IMEE: MONITOR U.S. AIRCRAFT AND CHINESE SHIPS EQUALLY

Senator Imee Marcos questioned the presence of yet more C-17 Globemasters of the U.S. Air Force in Manila and Palawan.

Marcos's query comes a day after the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, which she chairs, released a statement on a similar military plane that landed in Manila last week but which U.S. flight planners failed to coordinate beforehand with ground handlers at Manila's international airport.

Global flight tracker AirNav Systems revealed that at 6:03 a.m. on Friday, a U.S. Air Force C-17 with flight code MC244 / RCH244 landed in Manila after leaving the Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, then flew to Palawan before 1 p.m. and headed for Yokota Air Base in the city of Fussa, Japan later in the afternoon.

Although the plane's call signal was repeatedly out of coverage during its journey, flight tracker Flightradar24 recorded its departure from Palawan shortly before 4 p.m., Manila time, and its arrival at Yokota Air Base at around 9:30 p.m., Japan time.

The flight route from Palawan showed the plane passing over Pampanga, Cagayan, and off the eastern coasts of Batanes and Taiwan before it landed at the Yokota Air Base.

Passengers on commercial flights to and from Manila's international airport noticed two U.S. military planes near the runway and shared pictures with Marcos's office.

On Saturday, a C-17 that took off from Tokyo the night before with flight code RCH323 was spotted north of Busuanga past 10 a.m. and was off the radar until late afternoon when it again appeared in the same vicinity flying toward Polillo Island before exiting the Philippine territory past 6 p.m.

"Too little is known about ongoing U.S. military activity in our territory while we constantly call out the presence of Chinese vessels in the South China Sea," the senator noted.

"I am aware of ongoing exercises with foreign militaries this month. But the same zeal in tracking any violations in our maritime territory and EEZ (exclusive economic zone) must also apply where Philippine air traffic rules and joint military agreements with the U.S. are concerned," she added.

Marcos also called on Philippine military, defense, and foreign affairs officials to determine if covert U.S. military flights aggravated the already tense situation in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait and to weigh the risks to public safety.

Ilan pang C-17 Globemaster naispatan sa Manila at Palawan
IMEE: MAGING PATAS SA PAGBABANTAY SA MGA U.S. AIRCRAFT AT BARKO NG CHINA

Kinwestyon ni Senador Imee Marcos ang panibagong presensya ng ilan pang C-17 Globemaster ng U.S. Air Force sa Maynila at Palawan.

Isinagawa ito ni Marcos isang araw makaraang maglabas ng statement ang Senate Committee on Foreign Relations na pinamumunuan niya hinggil sa kaparehong military plane na lumapag sa Maynila noong nagdaang linggo pero hindi nai-coordinate ng mga flight planner ng U.S. sa mga ground handler sa paliparan ng Maynila.

Lumabas sa global flight tracker ng AirNav Systems na bandang 6:03 ng umaga noong Biyernes, isang U.S. Air Force C-17 na may flight code MC244 / RCH244 ang lumapag sa Maynila na nagmula sa Andersen Air Force Base sa Guam, umalis pa-Palawan bago mag ala-una ng hapon, at saka dumiretso sa Yokota Air Base sa lungsod ng Fussa, Japan bandang hapon.

Bagamat madalas na nawawalan ng signal ang eroplano habang bumibiyahe ito, nairekord ng flight tracker na Flightradar 24 ang pag-alis nito mula sa Palawan bago mag alas-kwatro ng hapon, oras sa Maynila, at ang pagdating nito sa Yokota bandang 9:30 p.m., oras sa Japan.

Ipinakikita ng flight route nito mula Palawan ang pagdaan nito sa ibabaw ng Pampanga, Cagayan, at sa silangang baybayin ng Batanes at Taiwan bago tuluyang lumapag sa Yokota Air Base.

Napansin rin ng mga pasahero ng mga commercial flight na paalis at papunta ng Ninoy Aquino International Airpot ang dalawang U.S. military plane malapit sa runway na kanilang ibinahagi sa opisina ni Marcos.

Isang C-17 na may flight code RCH323 na umalis ng Tokyo noong Biyernes ng gabi ang naispatan sa hilaga ng Busuanga kinabukasan, araw ng Sabado, lampas alas-10 na ng umaga. Pero hindi ito nasubaybayan hanggang kinahapunan at nakita na lang ito na patungo na sa Polillo Island bago makalabas ng teritoryo ng Pilipinas lampas alas-sais ng gabi.

"Konti lamang ang nakakaalam sa isinasagawang U.S. military activity sa ating teritoryo habang patuloy naman nating pinupuna ang presensya ng mga barko ng China sa South China Sea," diin ni Marcos.

""Alam kong may foreign military exercises ngayong buwan. Pero dapat maging patas ang pagsubaybay sa ating maritime territory at EEZ (economic exclusive zone) gayundin ang Philippine air traffic rules at joint military agreement natin sa U.S." dagdag pa ni Marcos

Sa harap nito, nanawagan si Marcos sa mga opisyal ng militar, depensa, at foreign affairs ng Pilipinas na tukuyin kung pinalalala lang ng mga siktretong paglipad sa bansa ng mga U.S. military plane ang tensyonadong sitwasyon sa South China Sea at Taiwan Strait at timbangin ang panganib na maaring idulot nito sa publiko.