NSC: Dead coral dumped in Sandy Cay to reverse 2016 arbitral ruling

The pile of dead coral in Sandy Cay may be an attempt to reverse the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral win in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a ranking official of the National Security Council (NSC) alleged Monday.

“Kinalulungkot namin ang nangyari sa Pag-asa Cays 1,2, and 3…Lumalabas na ang daming crushed corals na galing kung saan ang itinambak doon,” NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya told PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Monday.

(We are saddened about what happened to Pag-asa Cays 1,2,3. It was found that piles of coral rubble from somewhere were dumped in these areas.)

“The objective of this kind of operation,obviously, is to create a new low tide feature in the WPS. Kasi iba ang low-tide feature, it creates some sort of entitlement… This seeks to reverse the 2016 arbitral ruling kasi magkakaroon ng some sort of maritime entitlement pag nagbago ang physical attribute ng Pag-asa Cays 1,2,3,” he explained.

(The objective of this kind of operation, obviously, is to create a new low tide feature in the WPS. Low-tide feature creates some sort of entitlement with a change in the physical attribute of Pag-asa Cays 1,2,3 and this seeks to reverse the 2016 arbitral ruling.)

Malaya raised the alarm on this development, saying the Pag-asa features are within the 12 nautical miles of the territorial sea of Palawan Island.

Over the weekend, UP researchers, led by Dr. Jonathan Anticamara, said the Sandy Cay in the WPS is now in a “degraded state” following a study they conducted of the feature in March.

Anticamara said this is "possibly due to a combination of disturbances from overfishing, climate change impacts and island-building activities in WPS."

The researchers also discovered "rubble piled on Pag-asa Cays 1, 2 and 3 that are now exposed even during high tide."

“Lumalabas sa pagsusuri na this is man-made and talagang tinambakan ang existing live corals kaya nasira ang environment. At the beginning, our theory was para di mapakinabanagan ng ating mga fisherman…but apparently, mas malalim pala ang lumalabas dito…They want to change the geological feature…para magulo ang claim sa WPS,” he added.

(Based on our findings, the rubble is man-made and they were dumped on the living coral, affecting the environment. At the beginning, our theory was they did it to disturb the livelihood of Filipino fisherfolk but we think it is to reverse the ruling on the WPS claim.)

In September 2023, crushed coral was also found in Sandy Cay 2. Experts said this was a common procedure done by China before it starts reclamation activities.

In March, several Filipino marine scientists were injured after they were reportedly harassed by a Chinese Navy helicopter at Sandy Cay. The helicopter reportedly flew low over the coalescing sandbars and the scientists for ten minutes.

Sandy Cay is an area near Pag-asa Island which is populated by a Filipino community.

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.

Parts of the waters within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ) have been renamed the West Philippine Sea.

In 2016, an international arbitration tribunal in the Hague said China's claims had no legal basis. Beijing has rejected the decision.—RF, GMA Integrated News