“The continued swarming for indiscriminate illegal and destructive fishing activities of the Chinese maritime militia in Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal may have directly caused the degradation and destruction of the marine environment,” said Coast Guard spokesman Jay Tarriela.
Surveys of the seabed at Escoda Shoal exposed “visible discoloration of its seabed,strongly indicating that deliberate activities may have been undertaken to modify the natural topography of its underwater terrain”,he added.
Recently,Chinese vessels have blocked resupply missions to an old warship serving as a Philippine territorial outpost on a contested shoal,atone point firing a water cannon.
Beijing also broadened its sweeping claims over most of the South China Seawith the release of a controversial new 10-dash line,replacing the previous nine-dash version that wasruled invalid by an international tribunal in 2016. The landmark case was instigated by Manila.
The flare-up over coral has led Philippine Senator Risa Hontiveros to call for financial compensation from China,making a comparison with reparations paid by Japan after the World War II.