Chinese dredger a repeat offender? House probe sought

MANILA, Philippines — Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate, the deputy minority leader of the House of Representatives, on Saturday said he would seek an inquiry into Chinese dredging operations in the country following the seizure of a China-owned dredger off Bataan and Bulacan provinces earlier this week.

The 2,340-ton MV Zhonhai 68 dredging vessel, which was supposed to have left the country more than a year ago, was back in Philippine waters illegally, according to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

The same ship was found in the company of two other Chinese dredging vessels off Masinloc, Zambales province, in early 2019, said Bayan Muna Chair Neri Colmenares, who showed a 48-second video of the three ships he had personally taken.

Zarate said the House investigation he was pushing would look into reports that the materials dredged from the Philippines were being used “in the creation of artificial islands in the West Philippine Sea.”

He said in a text message to the Inquirer that he also wanted to determine the “long-term and harmful environmental effects” of such dredging activities.

2019 documentary

Colmenares said he was filming a documentary on Feb. 16, 2019, when he saw the Chinese dredging ships.

“We observed at least three Chinese dredging ships anchored offshore in Masinloc, Zambales, and Zhonhai 68 was among them,” Colmenares said in a statement.

“I personally rode a ‘bangka’ (an outrigger) to get near and see the ships for myself. Fishermen also sent me pictures of quarrying ships with Chinese crews in Cabangan, Zambales. Government knew years ago about the presence of Chinese ships like Zhonhai 68, but they only acted now,” he said, referring to the seizure of the dredger.

The PCG said the Bureau of Customs (BOC) would soon issue a formal seizure order on the ship, which was spotted on Wednesday by a joint PCG-BOC maritime security patrol.

A PCG statement said the Zhonhai 68 was seized because of its “illegal and unauthorized presence” in the country’s waters.

Police Col. Joel Tampis, the Bataan provincial police chief, said the vessel’s documents said it had left Orion town.

This was confirmed to the Inquirer by Orion Mayor Antonio Raymundo.

The ship was within sight of Hagonoy town in Bulacan province, but Mayor Raulito Manlapaz on Saturday said he did not know of any vessel anchored off its shores. Manlapaz also said no project in the town would require such a dredging vessel.

Some Hagonoy residents said they saw a derelict barge on their side of Manila Bay, said Ramon Atienza, chair of the island barangay of Pugad.

Transponder turned off

The PCG said the ship’s two Cambodian crew members failed to present proper documents and that the ship’s automatic identification system transponder was turned off, which would hide its name and location.

The BOC found out that its customs field office in Aparri, Cagayan, issued a departure clearance for the dredging ship over a year ago. It was unclear whether the ship had actually left Philippine waters or had remained in the country undetected until Wednesday.

To get from the mouth of the Cagayan River in Aparri, Cagayan, to Manila Bay, the ship would have sailed around the tip of Luzon down to Bataan, a voyage of about 690 kilometers.

The Coast Guard had confirmed that Zhonhai 68 was registered and was sailing under the Sierra Leone flag, one of the so-called flags of convenience used by the Chinese to take advantage of lower taxes and cheap labor.

‘All over PH’

Zarate pointed out that the Chinese dredging ship’s choice of flags was intended to “camouflage their illegal activities.”

“We should also look on the adverse environmental effects on the areas of their operation, including Cagayan and Central Luzon, which were heavily flooded during Typhoon Ulysses (international name: Vamco) last year,” he said.

Zarate said the Chinese dredgers seemed to be “going all over the Philippines to literally take our land and transport it to their artificial islands.”

He cited their presence in the provinces of Aklan, Batangas, Zambales, Cagayan and Bataan.

Zarate believed they were also engaged in black sand mining.

Black sand contains small fragments of magnetite, a rock mineral that is the most commonly mined ore of iron. It is a stabilizer in concrete and steel products, and is widely used in the production of jewelry and cosmetics.

Colmenares said they had “sources from Zambales” who had told them that dredging continued in 2020 during the pandemic lockdown.

“Residents in Cagayan, Ilocos, Pangasinan, Zambales, Leyte and Negros have long been complaining about China’s destructive black sand mining activities but they have been ignored. It seems China has become more confident of government support and is now looking at other areas to mine like Bataan,” said the former lawmaker.

“The question is why is the government allowing China to mine and destroy our shorelines?”

No foreign contractors

The government had planned to undertake a massive dredging project to clear Cagayan River to prevent widespread floods similar to the inundation suffered by Cagayan and Isabela provinces in November last year when Ulysses swept through the country’s northern region.

But in a December 2020 visit to Cagayan, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu barred foreign contractors from dredging the Cagayan River, even if they do it for free.

“We have a ruling that there will be no foreign contractors here. They should be all Filipinos who have a construction company and this is really [a prerequisite] of our river restoration projects all over the country,” he said.

“For all rivers that need to be restored, we are allowing contractors to dredge the river for free,” Cimatu said, adding that contractors must sign a memorandum of agreement to ensure that their work will be done properly.

Priority sites

The Department of Public Works and Highways had identified 19 priority sites for dredging coastal sandbars or sand deposits. The sandbars cover 270 hectares, equivalent to about 8.1 million cubic meters of sand. They have affected Cagayan River’s depth and narrowed its average width of 400 meters.

Among the priority sandbar areas to be cleared are those in Aparri, which became the center of a dispute in 2019 regarding a Chinese contract for black sand mining.

In the same year, a Chinese dredger ran aground off Aparri, but the Inquirer was not able to establish whether it was the Zhonhai 68. —WITH REPORTS FROM VILLAMOR VISAYA JR. WITH REPORTS FROM GREG REFRACCION AND CARMELA REYES ESTROPE