Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed two laws on Friday aimed at strengthening the country's maritime claims and bolstering its territorial integrity, as tensions with China over disputed areas in the South China Sea persist.

The Philippine military has opened two weeks of combat drills that will include seizing an island in the disputed South China Sea and likely be frowned upon by China.

Supported by gunboats and a former U.S. Coast Guard cutter, Philippine Navy SEALs and Marines approached a South China Sea island owned by Manila in a simulated seizure drill as Chinese forces observed from afar on Wednesday.

See how China has spent tens of billions of dollars turning farm fields and seaports into military complexes on Hainan and remote outposts in the South China Sea.

In the drills, a Philippine navy frigate approached Loaita Island, which the Philippines calls Kota Island, while four speedboats with marines and navy sailors landed on its beach. A Philippine air force aircraft later dropped food and other supplies to the forces that retook the island.

Philippine forces retook an island in the South China Sea Wednesday in the first such combat exercise in the disputed waters as Chinese navy ships kept watch from a distance, the Philippine military chief said.