MANILA, Philippines- Kasalukuyang nasa “degraded state” ang Sandy Cay sa West Philippine Sea (WPS), base sa pagsusuring isinagawa ng pamahalaan sa lugar.
Ayon sa mga eksperto at opisyal, nakita nila ang “low coral and fish diversity and abundance” sa Sandy Cay, o kilala bilang Pag-asa Cay.
Sinabi ni Dr. Jonathan Anticamara mula sa UP Institute of Biology sa Saturday News Forum na ito ay “possibly due to a combination of disturbances from overfishing, climate change impacts, and island-building activities in WPS.”
“Pag-asa Cays have less than 10 coral and fish species per 100 sqm transect that we surveyed, and most (of) the observed corals and fish species are small in sizes,” anang grupo sa presentasyon ng kanilang pag-aaral.
Nadiskubre rin nila ang “rubble piled on Pag-asa Cays 1, 2 and 3 that are now exposed even during high tide.”
“(The) coral rubble are piled on large live coral colonies, suggesting that those rubble are dumped on those live coral colonies,” wika ng grupo sa kanilang assessment.
“The pile of sand and rubble on Pag-asa Cays 1, 2 and 3 have many characteristics that are atypical of naturally formed coral or sandy barrier islands, indicating that these are possibly product of island building activities that are observed in WPS, but with some degree of uncertainty,” dagdag nito.
“If you are going to ask me now, who is our suspect in doing these illegal small island reclamation in Cays 1,2,3,4? There’s no other country that we can pinpoint, it’s only the People’s Republic of China,” pahayag naman ni National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea spokesperon Jay Tarriela.
Sa kasalukuyan ay wala pang komento ang Chinese Embassy hinggi dito. RNT/SA
