Plunder

The underwater photos released by our Coast Guard showing crushed corals around the Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal are shuddering. Obviously, the corals did not commit mass suicide. They were systematically destroyed.

As a result, the Coast Guard observed in their report, the two areas “appear lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life.” Marine life need the corals to thrive.

The two areas, well within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone, had seen scores of Chinese marine militia vessels loitering around for months. There are no other suspects for the destruction of the corals that will take hundreds, maybe thousands, of years to grow back.

The photos suggest the coral formations were crushed mechanically. This is likely the first step towards building artificial islands in the area.

Without the corals, there will be nothing to fish in these areas. That will add to the depletion of our marine harvest. It will, over time, deplete biodiversity in what has been called the Coral Triangle that includes the famous Tubbataha Reef.

A 2019 study by an oceanographer at the UP Marine Science Institute estimated that the Philippines was losing around P33.1 billion yearly due to China’s reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea. In the light of the Coast Guard’s new findings, that amount will have to be dramatically revised upwards.

What recourse do we have in the face of such blatant plunder of our natural resources?

The destruction of coral formations by Chinese fleets is happening on an industrial scale. The activity is obviously illegal under the terms of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). There is a tribunal set up precisely to adjudicate conflicts over the application of the Convention.

The Philippines