(UPDATE) THE Philippine Navy and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will deploy ships around Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) to deter Chinese reclamation activities that have left several tons of damaged corals, officials said Tuesday.
Commo. Roy Vincent Trinidad, Navy spokesman for the WPS, said the government would not allow China to reclaim it as the shoal is well within the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Toward this end, the Navy would maintain a persistent presence in the area, bolstered by patrols by other Navy and PCG vessels, he said.
An official of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), meanwhile, said the PCG found concrete evidence of China's land reclamation in Escoda Shoal.
NTF-WPS spokesman Commo. Jay Tarriela said the findings of the PCG vessel BRP Teresa Magbanua in Escoda Shoal confirm China's construction of artificial islands and extensive damage to the coral system in the area.
"China cannot simply dismiss these findings as disinformation, as we have documented the presence of their vessels in the area. It is widely known that China is the only country in the region that disregards environmental concerns," Tarriela said in a post on the social platform X.
He said BRP Teresa Magbanua was the only Philippine vessel sent to investigate the shoal but provoked a response from over 30 Chinese maritime militia vessels, three China Coast Guard vessels, three People's Liberation Army Navy warships and three research vessels.
"It is time to stop lying and be man enough to own your unlawful plans that are in progress," he said.
The statement was in response to a story released by Global Times, a newspaper owned by the Chinese Communist Party, that said the allegations made by the Philippines regarding illegal activities by China in Escoda Shoal were "groundless accusations" and that "such provocations could spark a standoff."
Tarriela accused China of employing "deception, denial and false narratives while projecting a façade of concern for regional stability."
"They excel at crafting statements and narrating events in a way that convinces others of their peaceful intentions and care for the marine environment," he said.
However, he said the Philippines' transparency in the WPS has been effective in revealing "falsehoods behind their convincing lies."
"Our primary objective is to expose the truth and unveil their pretense so that they come to realize that no amount of deceit can conceal their ambitious and greed-driven agenda of controlling the entire South China Sea," he said.
Earlier, BRP Teresa Magbanua was deployed to Escoda Shoal after marine biologists from the University of the Philippines, led by Jonathan Anticamara, found there was low coral and fish diversity in Sandy Cay, locally known as Pag-asa Cay.
Anticamara noted that the degraded state of the area was possibly due to "a combination of disturbances from overfishing, climate change impacts, and island-building activities in WPS."
Trinidad said at present, the Navy and Coast Guard have not monitored the presence of dredgers, a sign of reclamation activity.
Escoda Shoal is around 35 nautical miles off Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal.
"We would like to ensure that this will remain within the sovereign rights of the country, hence the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine Navy are taking cognizance of that, the unusual pile up of dead corals," Trinidad said.
In 2011 and 2012, China conducted major reclamation activities in the WPS using giant dredgers to move sand and build up military bases in Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Zamora (Subi) Reef and Calderon (Cuarteron) Reef.
The presence of crushed corals in Escoda Shoal is a sign that China is attempting to build an artificial island, Trinidad said, "but we are on top of the situation."
"The Philippine Coast Guard is there, the Navy is there. We would like to prevent a repeat of what happened in 2012 and 2013," Trinidad said.
WITH PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY