"BRP TERESA MAGBANUA”, the largest patrol vessel (97 meters) for the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)

By Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza, Reporter

THE PHILIPPINES has deployed its biggest coast guard vessel to Sabina Shoal in the South China Sea amid Chinese efforts to dump dead corals at the shoal to alter its elevation, according to its military.

The Southeast Asian nation is also working with foreign partners to restore damaged corals within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the waterway.

“What we’ve seen recently was that there is somehow a sort of dumping of dead corals in order to make it come out of the water in order for it to be declared as a feature that can be built, that can be reclaimed,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla-Taborlupa told a Stratbase ADR forum on Tuesday.

“The destruction of corals was their way of dumping this in order to make Escoda Shoal (Sabina) such a feature,” she added.

Ms. Padilla-Taborlupa said the Philippine government had sent BRP Teresa Magbanua, which was being shadowed by Chinese vessels including People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ships based on earlier reports, to the shoal to prevent “further reclamation” of the area.

“That’s why we have sent our biggest coast guard vessel to the area to prevent the further reclamation of Escoda Shoal, and this is what’s heightening the tensions right now,” she said.

The 97-meter multi-role response vessel has been stationed at the shoal since mid-April.

She cited an Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative report in February that showed Chinese activities had damaged at least 21,000 acres of coral reefs within the Philippine EEZ.

The Philippine Navy has used Sabina as a staging area for resupply missions to its outpost at Second Thomas Shoal, which is also within the country’s EEZ.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) late Monday said 40 Chinese vessels including three warships had blocked its two ships conducting a humanitarian mission for Filipinos stationed at BRP Teresa Magbanua.

The 40 Chinese vessels included six Chinese Coast Guard ships and 31 Chinese militia vessels.

“Such actions resulted in our two 44-meter Multi-Role Response Vessels being unable to safely deliver essential supplies, including a special ice cream treat from the commandant in honor of National Heroes’ Day,” the PCG said in a statement.

It urged the Chinese Coast Guard to stop deploying maritime forces that could undermine “mutual respect.”

Sabina Shoal, which is part of the Spratly Islands, is 123.6 nautical miles from Palawan Island, which is facing the South China Sea.

China has claimed that the BRP Sierra Madre, which the Philippines grounded at Second Thomas Shoal in 1999 to bolster its sea claim, was causing massive environmental damage to the atoll.

Ms. Padilla-Taborlupa said reef damage from BRP Sierra Madre was minimal compared with the marine damage caused by China’s reclamation activities within the Philippine EEZ.

At the forum, Dexter dela Cruz, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Southern Cross University’s Marine Ecology Research Centre, said the destruction of corals South China Sea areas within the Philippine EEZ affects “a huge portion of the Philippines as well.”

“The West Philippine Sea is a huge area,” he said. “It’s a huge breeding ground for fish and marine biodiversity. Anything that’s happening in the West Philippine Sea can trickle down to any part of the Philippines as well.”

Mary Kristerie Baleva, a nonresident fellow at Stratbase ADR Institute, said the Philippines should continue to push the enforcement of multilateral environmental deals including the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction agreement, which aims to reverse destructive ocean trends and restore ocean health.

Maria Vanessa Baria-Rodriguez, deputy director of the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institue’s Bolinao Laboratory, cited the need for more joint research activities with Philippine neighbors.

She cited a previous joint oceanographic research expedition with Vietnam. “There was one before and now I think there’s an ongoing discussion.”

She said the two countries should invite more interested parties to promote better understanding of the value of the South China Sea.