Senator flags ‘illegal shipping’ of black sand from Zambales to China

MANILA, Philippines — The “illegal shipping” of black sand from Zambales to China was flagged by Sen. Raffy Tulfo, alleging that erring individuals extract minerals from it and dump excess sand on the West Philippine Sea.

Early Tuesday morning during the Senate’s marathon plenary debates on the proposed 2025 funding of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Tulfo pressed the agency to disclose how it deals with reports of illegal dredging of sand across the country.

“How does the DENR know that the sand that is being dug up from different parts of the country—Ilocos, Cagayan, Zambales, will actually be brought to Manila Bay and not smuggled out of the country and upon arrival some place [outside] the country will be magnetized to separate the black sand?” asked Tulfo.

READ: Sen. Raffy Tulfo dares DENR to stop black sand mining

Sen. Cynthia Villar, who was speaking on behalf of the DENR, said there has been a moratorium on this since 2014 from the point of view of the agency.

Tulfo, however, insisted that it was not his question, specifically flagging the alleged dredging of sands particularly in Zambales, Cagayan, and Ilocos.

“Once it arrives in a location outside the country, the sand is filtered to remove the black sand and the remainder will be unloaded in the West Philippine Sea,” said Tulfo.

He then proceeded to claim that he obtained a list proving that some ships from Zambales go directly to China instead of dumping sands to Manila Bay.

“This is prohibited. On the part of the agency, they have not received any report of (sand) being transported illegally, but if you have knowledge of such, just report it to them and they will do something about it,” said Villar.

Tulfo, for his part, said DENR has all the resources to monitor such activities, noting that any mineral being transported out of the country should be detected by the agency.

“There are many ships that instead of taking the sand to the reclamation areas in Manila Bay [are] going straight to China. Once there in China, they have a so-called separator—called magnetic separator—that sorts out the black sand,” he reiterated.

“The sand is dumped, for example, in the West Philippine Sea while the black sand is utilized,” he added.

Later into the deliberations, Villar said there is an interagency committee which includes DENR, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Transportation that could monitor such activities through the Philippine Coast Guard.

“Many are in charge here and I guess they have to meet and try to devise something so that they can share the work and be able to stop this illegal act of bringing our sand outside the Philippines,” said Villar.