Filipino airmen flew with their Japanese counterparts on a Japanese P3-C Orion surveillance plane and circled over the disputed Recto Bank in the Spratly Islands on Tuesday at the start of an exercise with the Philippines and the United States. The P3-C Orion surveillance plane flew at 5,000 feet above the edge of Reed Bank, an energy-rich area that is claimed by both China and the Philippines, escorted by Philippine aircraft. The Fort Worth deployed the codes when it unexpectedly met a Chinese vessel near the disputed Spratly islands during a May patrol of the South China Sea. It was the first time a US littoral combat ship operated in waters around the islands, which are claimed by countries including China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia.

PH airmen hop on Orion flight over disputed sea. (2015, June 24). Manila Standard, p. A3.