A Philippine Navy vessel sailed near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea on Monday, Manila’s military spokesperson said, denying a report that the patrol ship was blocked by the Chinese military.

China’s military on Monday said it blocked a Philippine vessel that entered the waters near Scarborough Shoal without authorization. That report is “not true,” Philippine military spokesperson Medel Aguilar said in a mobile phone message on Tuesday.

“An illegal occupant cannot prevent the legitimate owner from entering his own house and backyard,” Aguilar said.

Scarborough Shoal is a chain of reefs and rocks that both China and the Philippines claim as their own.