Philippines mulls legal action against China over ‘destruction’ of coral reefs

ISTANBUL

The Philippines said Wednesday that it is considering taking legal action against China, accusing it of destroying coral reefs within its exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

China called on the Philippines "to stop creating political drama" after Philippine Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said a day earlier that Manila "will pursue these cases against China, since we already have a lot of evidence.”

China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that the Philippines’ accusations "have no factual basis.”

“If the Philippines truly cares about the ecological environment of the South China Sea, it should tow away the illegally grounded warship at Ren’ai Jiao as soon as possible, stop it from discharging polluted water into the ocean and not let the rusting warship bring irrevocable harm to the ocean,” she added.

Earlier this week, the Philippine Armed Forces in a report exposed the “severe damage inflicted upon the marine environment and coral reef in the seabed of Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal," said Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea.

He said the Coast Guard launched missions to conduct extensive underwater surveys of the seabed in both the Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal from Aug. 9 to Sept. 11.

“The results of these surveys showed that the marine ecosystem in the subject West Philippine Sea appeared lifeless, with minimal to no signs of life," said Tarriela.

China and the Philippines have overlapping claims in warm waters of the mineral-rich South China Sea, often resulting in disputes.