Phil. Soil used to create islands at SCS

What The Hague?! Philippines helped China build structures on disputed islands in the South China Sea

July 29, 2016

by Ilda

Ships seemingly being loaded with soil to be shipped to Chinese land reclamation operations in the South China Sea

I first read it on some obscure website months ago. Knowing that one has to be careful about what one reads online nowadays, I waited for mainstream media to pick it up before taking it seriously. Unfortunately, it has taken years before they did. Just this week, Philippine mainstream media finally publicised reports about how China smuggled Philippine soil to reclaim parts of the disputed islands in the South China Sea or the West Philippine Sea as some prefer to call it nowadays.

Another awful discovery, inside sources from the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency(NICA) has found out that some Chinese mining firms are smuggling soil and rocks to help build a chain of Chinese islands in the West Philippine Sea. NICA agents were baffled to found out that besides from the Ore and Nickel that these mining firms are exporting towards China, a large amount of soil and rocks are secretly smuggled then ends up directly in one of the Chinese reclamation islands. The smuggling operation usually happens during the heat of the day as to hide the operation as an ordinary day in the mining area.

According to the new Governor of Zambales, two mountains and half of Zambales were sold to China in recent years and some rocks and soil were shipped to the disputed islands to reclaim 3,500 hectares. Watch the video here:

Seriously, what was the media doing all these years? Do they need more staff to pick up important issues especially about the real state of the Philippines? It seems they focus too much on trivial stuff like celebrity news instead of issues that are detrimental to the very existence of the nation.

Former President BS Aquino: Sleeping on the job?

And what the hell was the BS Aquino government doing all these years? One can be forgiven for saying that the previous government was sleeping on the job. How in the world did BS Aquino allow China to use Philippine soil to reclaim the disputed territory – the same one the Philippines put forward at the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2013? This is something that needs further investigation, definitely. Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez was right when she said “ heads should roll ”. She should start with the former DENR Secretary who seems to have turned a blind eye to this shameful act. Let’s just hope she’s not just grandstanding.

DENR Secretary Gina Lopez said ”heads should roll” if the claim of Zambales Governor Amor Deloso that Philippine soil were used in building artificial islands in the South China Sea is true.

”That’s horrible. I will find out whoever gave the permit. China can never be allowed to use our soil as their landfill. We’re gonna look into this and make sure it never ever happens,” Lopez told reporters.

”If there are DENR officials, they will be made accountable…Heads should roll. If the truckloads came from us, we should be aware. If they were getting truckloads of our soil, there were probably some trail.”

China for years has been building artificial islands in the disputed Spratlys islands, stoking tension in the region.

The patriotism of Filipinos running the local government and the people in the areas where China supposedly smuggled soil from sites in Palawan, Zambales and Ilocos Sur is in question. This is tantamount to treason. They helped an enemy of the state build what some are reportedly saying is a potentially hostile military facility. Did the local government get compensation from China for the soil and rocks they were shipping out of the country? Were the Chinese mining firms given “permits” to take extra soil with them?

The news that China has been smuggling soil for years during BS Aquino’s term is incredible. You just can’t make this stuff up. Filipinos should be outraged. If only the mainstream media informed the public, they would. Unfortunately, mainstream media beholden to BS Aquino did not even bother to investigate this in the past. This kind of news should have been on the front pages of the Inquirer.  The publication was so busy featuring the latest exposé  about the Liberal Party’s witch-hunt victim like former Vice President Jejomar Binay in the last six years. Now they are busy trying to sensationalise the extra-judicial killings, which they all blame on the new government under President Rodrigo Duterte.

Photo of what looks like soil destined for the South China Sea being loaded onto cargo ships

This news should be enough to convince people that BS Aquino does not deserve praise or awards for the The Hague ruling. The ruling does not even say that the Philippines has sovereignty over the disputed islands to begin with. China does not even recognise the international court. Furthermore, the international court does not have a mechanism to enforce its own ruling. It’s still up to the nations to deal with the problem. In other words, it is back to Square One. As a matter of fact, the situation is worse now than when the case was filed because China has now built structures where there was none at the beginning of the stand-off in 2012. Again, no thanks to the incompetence of the BS Aquino government and greed of the local Filipinos in the region where Chinese mining companies were operating.

In the end, Filipinos are to blame for their loss in their claim over the disputed islands. They were not vigilant enough. They trusted BS Aquino too much to do the right thing. They thought just filing a case with The Hague was enough to stop China.

This could be a sign of things to come. Who knows what else some Filipinos are willing to sell for profit? It seems some Filipinos are willing to sell their soul too. It’s not too far-fetched to say that more islands in mainland Philippines could be sold in the future with or without the knowledge of the government. This almost happened to Mindanao when BS Aquino was pushing for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law proposing to give parts of Mindanao to Malaysia-backed terrorist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. It’s also worth mentioning again that BS Aquino government gave up on the country’s claim over Sabah. BS Aquino’s patriotism is highly questionable, indeed.

One day, the Philippines will no longer exist as it is known today if Filipinos allow their so-called government to run the country to the ground. It is becoming apparent that patriotism is not strong in a lot of Filipinos. No wonder the country is a mess.