PATNANUNGAN, Quezon — A remote-controlled aerial target drone believed to be owned by the United States Navy was found floating near the shoreline of an islet in this island town.
The discovery of BQM-74E (orange color with serial numbers BQ55079) at Sitio Katakian, Bgy. Busdak, was reported to the local police last Friday but was retrieved by the authorities only last Sunday due to bad weather.
“Masama po ang kondisyon ng panahon at malalaki ang alon sa dagat kaya hindi agad napuntahan ng aking mga pulis iyong islet,” town police commander Insp. Rolando de Luna said.
The aerial target drone was discovered by fishermen at an islet in northern Quezon facing the Pacific Ocean.
He said the discovery of the target drone caused fear among the village folk, suspecting it was a kind of bomb or warhead delivered by a missile or torpedo.
“Natakot po ang mga tao roon sa islet nang makita iyong drone dahil sa pag-aakalang isang uri iyon ng bomba,” de Luna told this writer.
He said that the target drone has some oysters growing around it, an indication that it has been floating off the sea for more than a month.
The police chief said the target drone is now being kept at the police station.
Quezon police director Sr. Supt. Ronaldo Ylagan said he has no idea where the target drone came from, but said they will be coordinating with concerned agencies.
BQM-74E is used primarily by the US Navy as an aerial target capable of simulating enemy threats. It is also used in missile training exercises.
On January 6, 2013, a group of fishermen recovered a target drone of the same kind floating off Masbate waters.
The US Embassy in Manila said the target drone was fired during American naval exercises off Guam and was just washed ashore to the Philippines by ocean currents.
Human rights groups and left wing-inclined organizations have either condemned or called for an investigation regarding the discovery. They said target drones can be used for surveillance or for actual combat operations. They added that it can also be used to spy on the activities of the New People’s Army in the area.
Armed Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc said his office hasn’t received yet any information about the target drone, but said he would verify the report.
http://www.journal.com.ph/news/provincial/us-target-drone-found-in-quezon-islet
As I noted in a previous post, leftists and Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) front organizations have exploited the presence of harmless target drones that happen to wash up on Philippine shores as some sort of clandestine operation being carried by the US military against Philippine insurgent groups and especially against the armed wing of the CPP, the New People's Army (NPA). Of course these sort of allegations are nothing more than anti-US military propaganda machinations. Such allegations clearly reflect the extreme paranoia of the CPP/NPA insurgents and the ridiculous lengths that commie propagandists will go to in order to discredit the US military.
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