De Lima deplores reported dumping of human waste by Chinese vessels in WPS

Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima deplored the reported dumping of human waste and sewage by Chinese ships in parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) which is said to be creating long-term marine life damage in Philippine waters.

De Lima urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), together with the Philippine Coast Guard as well as the Navy, to investigate China's action which is a direct affront to Filipino's dignity.

"The reported waste dumping that China is doing in our waters is a serious environmental crime and needs immediate investigation by the DENR, BFAR, the Philippine Coast Guard, and the Navy," she said.

"The waste dumping is happening right after the sudden swarm of Chinese militia vessels in the West Philippine Sea this past month. Not only did they intrude in our waters as a show of force, but they also polluted our waters, consequently killing the marine life and the marine ecosystem that sustains them," she added.

Based on media reports, Liz Derr, founder and CEO of Simularity, a group which specializes in geospatial analysis and provides satellite data imagery, revealed in a report that Chinese ships have been dumping raw sewage every day for several years on reefs, creating harmful Chlorophyll-a blooms in the waters.

"Sewage effluent sources in the Spratly Islands include ship wastewater and human habitation without sufficient sewage treatment. When the ships don't move, the poop piles up," it said in the report.

The lady Senator from Bicol said China will never stop with its deplorable acts against the Philippines if Duterte will continue kowtowing to his Beijing masters and refuse to assert our rights in the WPS.

"Hindi mahihinto ang ganitong asal sa atin ng China kung patuloy si Duterte sa pagiging tuta ng China. Pinapakita lang ng China na kapag walang gulugod ang Pangulo, tatratuhin lang nilang kubeta ang ating bansa," she said.

De Lima said the Philippines is the only country, as per reports, put to what she called as "repugnant treatment of waste dumping in our waters by hundreds of Chinese vessels."

"The contrast in the Chinese treatment of ASEAN leaders is clear: the leaders of our co-claimant neighboring countries are resisting China's bullying and abuse, while Duterte is a consummate puppet whose government readily defends China's abuses, even at the expense of calling our own fisherfolk liars when they report such abuses," said De Lima.