PH denies China's environmental damage claim vs. BRP Sierra Madre

THE NATIONAL Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) on Tuesday belied China's claims that the Philippine Navy ship BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) is causing massive environmental damage to the Ayungin Shoal.

"The accusation against the Philippines by so-called 'Chinese experts' is false and a classic misdirection," NTF-WPS spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

He said it was China which has been found to have caused irreparable damage to corals and the marine environment and jeopardized the livelihood of thousands of Filipino fisherfolk.

"In fact, China's involvement in the destruction of the maritime environment was established by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2016. On Page 464 of the Arbitral Award, it states that China has aggravated the dispute by building a large artificial island on Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef); inflicting permanent, irreparable harm to the coral habitat of Mischief Reef (Panganiban Reef); and commencing large-scale island-building and construction work in Cuarteron Reef (Calderon Reef), Fiery Cross Reef (Kagitingan Reef), Gaven Reef (Burgos Reef), Johnson Reef (Mabini Reef), Hughes Reef (McKennan Reef), and Subi Reef (Zamora Reef). These artificial islands now serve as Chinese military bases," said Malaya, who is also National Security Council Assistant Director General.

He said the PCA found that Chinese authorities were aware of their fishers' destructive acts of harvesting endangered sea turtles, coral, and giant clams on a substantial scale in the South China Sea (SCS)

He added Beijing did not do anything to stop these methods that have inflicted severe damage on the coral reef environment in these waters.

"Moreover, a 2023 report released by the independent non-profit organization Center for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), found that: "more than 6,200 acres (25 sq. kilometers) of coral reef have been destroyed by island-building activities in the South China Sea, with 75 percent of the damage being done by China; another 16,353 acres (66.1 sq. kilometers) of coral reef were damaged due to giant clam harvesting by Chinese fishermen, and China has caused the most reef destruction through dredging and landfill, burying roughly 4,648 acres (18.8 square kilometer) of reef,” Malaya said.

The NSC official pointed out that Manila has also collated evidence that Beijing has been responsible for severe damage to corals in Bajo de Masinloc, Rozul Reef, Escoda Shoal, Sabina Shoal, and Pag-asa Cays 1, 2, and 3, among others.

He said the swarming and indiscriminate, illegal fishing activities of the Chinese Maritime Militia (CMM) in these areas have severely degraded the marine environment in the WPS.

"We call on the public and the international community to be wary and conscious of ongoing activities by Chinese state-owned media and so-called 'Chinese experts' to spread fake news and disinformation and conduct malign influence operations in the Philippines, including this false accusation against BRP Sierra Madre," Malaya said.

The NTF-WPS spokesperson also called for an independent third-party marine scientific assessment in the WPS by impartial recognized experts -- using underwater surveys, collated satellite imagery, photo and video references, and other scientific means to establish the causes of coral reef damage and other recorded destruction of the maritime environment in the vital waterway.

"We invite other Indo-Pacific nations to join the Philippines in pushing for a more united, coordinated, and sustained multilateral action to protect and preserve the marine and land biodiversity in our region," he said. (Priam Nepomuceno)