The United States and Japan expressed their worries over the extensive maritime destruction in the waters of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), and the Philippine military claimed that Chinese vessels were behind the damage to coral reefs.

Expressing her concern, US Ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson posted through social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter), saying that the reports on the coral destructions from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command (WESCOM) damaging water habitat will harm the ecosystem and negatively affect lives and livelihoods.

On the other hand, Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa urged everyone to protect the ‘vital ecosystems,’ as he described the destruction as very alarming news.’

With such claims, the Chinese Embassy in Manila immediately responded to Koshikawa’s social media post, denouncing it as a form of disinformation, counter-attacking Japan for releasing wastewater late in August, and asking them to stop releasing contaminated nuclear water from Fukushima.

On September 18, the PCG mentioned that it would tap experts from the University of the Philippines Maritime Science Institute to assess the damaged coral reefs at Rozul Reef and Escoda Shoal.