The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) expressed concern over the reports about the alleged illegal shipment of black sand from Zambales to China.

In a press conference on Tuesday, Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the West Philippine Sea confirmed that the military have been monitoring the reported shipment of black sand to China.

"We have received these reports and have been monitoring them for the past. We are taking this very seriously, considering that black sand and rare earth minerals have military technology applications," he said.

"What is more concerning there is not only the extraction of black sand and if confirmed, the dumping in the West Philippine Sea, what is more concerning there is its military application the moment rare earth minerals are extracted," he added.

However, Trinidad did not answer further questions on the issue as he deferred it "to the appropriate government regulatory and law enforcement agencies" that have jurisdiction over the matter.

"We defer to the appropriate regulatory and law enforcement agencies of the government that have jurisdiction over this. What has been confirmed of the reclamation in the West Philippine Sea is the destruction of the environment because of reclamation activities that destroy the seabed, the corals and other natural formations of the West Philippine Sea," he said.

During the Senate marathon plenary debates on the proposed 2025 funding of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) last week, Senator Raffy Tulfo claimed to obtain a list providing that some ships loaded with sand are going directly to China from Zambales instead of dumping sands to Manila Bay.

"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 someplace [outside] the country will be magnetized to separate the black sand?” Tulfo said as he pressed the agency to disclose how it deals with the reports of illegal dredging of sand across the country.

"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,” he added. Robina Asido/DMS