And now this

If you've always wanted to know how ships dispose of their waste, whether human or otherwise, then this will answer your question. According to the US geospatial firm Simularity, the hundreds of Chinese ships anchored stationary within the Philippine exclusive economic zone are dumping raw sewage into the waters causing ecological damage to the reefs. Imagine the crews of every ship answering the call of nature day in day out. Surely they will not store all that human excrement on board, so what do they do? Dump it all into the ocean.

Just to be clear, most ships do that while sailing in open waters. In this case, these ships have been stationary for months on end only moving slightly from one place to another. You can just imagine how much of their filth has been dumped into the waters. The country has been filing protest after protest with regards to these ships but what do the Chinese do? They ignore them and at the same time dump all their waste into our waters as if to insult us even further.

Simularity adds "damage to reefs in some parts of the Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea in the last five years caused by sewage effluent is "visible and dramatic," on top of marine destruction caused by China's artificial island-building and illegal harvest of giant clams." Satellite imagery shows chlorophyll-a blooms in the Union Banks. Chlorophyll-a is a measure of phytoplankton that is never good in excess. These have been blamed for "red tides" that render marine life toxic for human consumption.

This is proof of how China does not care for the environment as long as it pushes its agenda. It also shows just how much of a friend it sees in the Philippines. The Palace did not see these as causes of concern, even downplaying the presence of China's maritime militia near islands we claim. As for the excrement issue, the Palace has yet to issue a statement. Probably trying to find the right words to say so as not to offend China, as always.

Vice President Leni Robredo lamented five years of missed opportunities with regards to the victorious arbitral ruling handed down five years ago. But on day one of President Duterte's administration, befriending China was at the top of their to-do list. We can only imagine the ecological destruction Chinese fishermen have done in our exclusive economic zone. The unrestricted fishing of giant clams, the debris from the artificial islands, and now this.