The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) have discovered extensive damage to Rozul Reef in the West Philippine Sea after a swarm of Chinese Maritime Militia occupied the area.
Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos, commander of the Palawan-based Western Command (WesCom) said that his forces had noticed a resurgence of Chinese vessels in Rozul Reef in August, just a month after they drove away around 50 Chinese maritime militia (CMM) vessels in the area.
Rozul Reef, located at the southern end of Recto (Reed) Bank in the northeastern portion of Kalayaan Island Group (Spratly Islands) in Palawan, is known as a haven for different species of fish and other marine life thanks to the natural coral reef growing around it which serves as their shelter. But now, the corals are gone, according to Carlos.
“There was a considerable amount of time that there was no swarming in the area because of our presence there,” Carlos said in a news forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Sept. 16.
“When they left, we send out our divers to do an underwater survey and we saw that the corals are gone. There’s nothing left, they are destroyed and only debris were there,” he added.
Carlos said that WesCom suspects “massive illegal harvesting of coral” in the area, citing a report provided by Philippine Navy divers when they conducted underwater surveys.
One of the strategies being considered by Carlos to protect the country’s interests in the WPS is to hold coordinated patrols with allied countries.
“We’re doubling our effort on that. We’re going to address that issue by increasing our presence there. We should be constant, have strong presence there. Sama-sama na (We should join forces with others),” he said.
[Image – Chinese maritime militia vessels swarm Rozul (Iroquis) Reef in the West Philippine Sea – Photo by Western Command]
