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Michael Delizo

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<p>MANILA — Cays — low islands or reefs — of Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are now in “degraded states” and have been seen to have a “pile of sand and rubble” that indicates island-building activities, a marine biologist said Saturday.</p><p>Prof. Jonathan Anticamara of the University of the Philippines Institute of Biology said there was a “low coral and fish diversity and abundance” at the Pag-asa Island cays during the marine resource assessment with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and National Fisheries Research and Development Institute in March.</p><p>He said there were fewer than 10 coral and fish species per 100 square meters transect that were surveyed. Most of the specimens seen were small, he also said.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/27/silipin-lagay-ng-mga-sandy-cay-sa-pag-asa-island-palawan-1945" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">SILIPIN: Lagay ng mga Sandy Cay sa Pag-asa Island, Palawan</a></div><p>Another key observation, according to Anticamara, is the pile of sand and rubble on three Pag-asa cays “that are atypical of naturally formed coral or sandy barrier islands, indicating that these are possibly product of island-building activities.”</p><p> “That…convinced me that this is not a typical island formation that’s basically formed by nature. Many of these characteristics suggest that most likely, this pile of rubble is somewhat made by human,” he said in a media conference in Quezon City.</p><p>The cays also have steeper slopes and have coral rubble that seems to have been dumped there instead of being formed naturally.</p><p>Anticamara added that the pile is still white, which indicates that the formation was very recent — about less than a year old.</p><p>&quot;[You] can only see something like this if you go to a reclamation area,&quot; he said.</p><div><strong>PCG ACCUSES CHINA</strong></div><p> Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said China, whos ships have been swarming areas of the West Philippine Sea, could be behind the degradation ion Pag-asa Island.</p><p>“There’s no other suspect that we can name with this kind of activities. It’s only the People’s Republic of China,” Tarriela said. “It is only the People’s Republic of China who has a professional record ng mga ganitong gawain sa South China Sea.”</p><p>Tarriela also noted China’s dangerous harassment while the team was conducting the scientific research survey.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/3/26/filipino-scientists-in-pag-asa-island-harassed-injured-by-china-aircraft-bfar-1104" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">READ: Filipino scientists in Pag-asa Island &#x27;harassed&#x27;, injured by China aircraft: BFAR</a></div><p>Tarriela said China should be held accountable over the environmental damage.</p><p>The National Task Force in the West Philippines has already directed the PCG to maintain its presence in the waters to prevent China’s illegal activities.</p><p>On his part, maritime law expert Prof. Jay Batongbacal said the Philippines can use the recent incident in its case build-up for another arbitral case against China.</p><p>“Itong destruction ng coral and deliberate alteration ng marine environment, puwedeng maging basehan ng isa pang kaso,” said Batongbacal.</p><div> </div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jc1CkaMBJqk?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Sandy cays of the Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are now in “degraded states," a marine biologist said Saturday. </p>

Sandy cays of the Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea are now in “degraded states," a marine biologist said Saturday.

Pag-asa cays in ‘degraded state’ over new island-building activities: study

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Pag-asa cays in ‘degraded state’ over new island-building activities: study

Michael Delizo,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 04, 2024 03:13 PM PHT

Read More:

Pag-asa Island

West Philippine Sea

sandy cay

reclamation

China

Beijing

South China Sea

ANC

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