Combined military and civilian divers, battling strong underwater currents and other life-threatening challenges, succeeded in hoisting a Philippine flag underwater as the country celebrated Monday its 119th Independence Day. Technical divers from the Philippine Army, Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and civilian partners aboard this newly acquired landing dock ship (LDS) spearheaded the historic underwater event. The event lasted 19 minutes, with the standard fiberglass laminated Philippine flag attached to an eight-by-eight-meter, six-inch-thick marker reminding those who will have activities there that the entire area, a 13-million-square-kilometer underwater plateau, is Philippine territory.

Laude, J. (2017, June 14). Phl plants flag underwater to assert maritime rights. Philippine Star, pp. 1, 7.