Beijing dared to let world check shoal for maritime damage

THE Philippines challenged China to open Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) to international scrutiny to determine the state of its marine environment, which Manila believes has been damaged by Chinese vessels in the area.

«We are alarmed… about the situation that's happening there,» said National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya in a media briefing on May 20.

Malaya said a third-party environmental group or the United Nations could launch a fact-finding mission to determine the health of the shoal.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the South China Sea Commo. Jay Tarriela talks during a press conference in Manila on May 20, 2024. AFP PHOTO

The Philippine government is gathering evidence that will be used once it files an environmental case against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands, for its alleged numerous destructive activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Malaya said.

This includes the harvesting of endangered giant clams.

In the same press conference, Commo. Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman for the WPS, said that the Chinese maritime militia had been monitored transporting giant clams allegedly harvested in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc since 2016.

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Tarriela said in July 2018, Chinese fishermen gathered and piled up shells of giant clams to anchor their service boats at the shallow part of the shoal.

He said on Feb. 27, 2019, several piles of marked giant clams were seen at the shallow part of the shoal along with floating markers.

Tarriela said two sea turtles were also sighted being tied in captivity by Chinese fishermen in the northern part of Bajo de Masinloc.

He said one of the turtles survived and was freed, while the other was found dead two days later.

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On March 3, 2019, more piles of unmarked giant clams were documented in the area

During a maritime domain awareness flight conducted on April 22, 2019, Tarriela said the PCG discovered small Chinese service boats scouring the seabed inside the shoal.

«On top of China's consistent harvesting activities, underwater footage as early as 2017 confirm that their presence and