MANILA – The Philippines has rejected China’s claim that the BRP Sierra Madre has had damaged the coral reef ecosystem on Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.
National Task Force-West Philippines Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the accusation of China is “false” and a “classic misdirection.”
“The accusation against the Philippines by so-called ‘Chinese experts’ is false and a classic misdirection,” Malaya said in a statement on Tuesday.
“It is China who has been found to have caused irreparable damage to corals. It is China that has caused untold damage to the maritime environment, and jeopardized the natural habitat and the livelihood of thousands of Filipino fisherfolk,” he added.
According to a report on Chinese state-owned media Global Times, Chinese experts found out that BRP Sierra Madre caused damage to the coral reefs and environmental pollution in the South China Sea (SCS).
“Experts who participated in the field survey told the Global Times that solid evidence and scientific analysis showed that with the vessel’s grounding, heavy metal precipitation caused by the ship’s corrosion, and the discharge of garbage and sewage from the personnel on the vessel have had a long-term hazardous impact on the health of corals,” Global Times report said.
“As the Philippines intensified its cognitive warfare against China, the report revealed the truth clearly that it is the Philippines’ grounded military vessel at Ren’ai Jiao that is causing significant harm to the marine environment, they stressed,” it added.
The Ayungin Shoal, which China calls Ren’ai Reef, is located 105 nautical miles west of Palawan and is within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and is part of its continental shelf.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
The Philippine government sued China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague in 2013. The Court ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016 when it junked China’s nine-dash claim over the South China Sea. China, however, does not recognize the ruling./PN
