US, PH, CONSIDERS USE OF SATELLITE TO MONITOR WPS

MANILA PHILIPPINES — The government of the Philippines and the United States are studying the use of satellite imagery, transponders and infrared to monitor the situation in the West Philippine Sea, in case of the increased forces of Chinese ships.

In a joint statement issued by the Philippines and the US in the space dialogue, it opens the issue of using satellite imagery beams from outer space to see the situation in the maritime domain and possible illegal activities in the waters covered by the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.

These include monitoring, documenting vessels within the Philippine EEZ, ensuring the safety of fishermen, protecting the marine environment and curbing illegal fishing of fish and marine organisms.

“The delegations recognized the potential for expanded cooperation on the use of space for maritime domain awareness, including through the U.S. Department of Transportation-led SeaVision program,” said the joint statement of the Philippines and the US in the space dialogue held in Washington DC.

See joint statement here: https://www.state.gov/joint-statement-on-u-s-philippines-space-dialogue/

Such a proposal will be possible with the help of SeaVision of the US Transportation Department, under a more expanded cooperation between the two countries.

“It represents an expansion of U.S.-Philippines cooperation into outer space, including the use of space-based Earth observation satellite data for a wide variety of socio-economic applications,” the joint statement said.

The possible expansion of maritime cooperation through the use of air was first discussed in the first space dialogue between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and by US President Joe Biden, in May 2023.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the year 2021 is when the US began providing free access to the Naval Information Systems Center Pacific to the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the National Coast Watch Center.

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