THE Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday rejected China’s denial of Chinese fishermen’s use of cyanide in fishing activities around Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The National Maritime Council (NMC) earlier said that the laboratory analysis of the yellow bottles recovered by the Philippine Navy (PN) from Chinese sampans (fishing boats) operating around BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) yielded positive tests for cyanide — a highly toxic chemical causing severe and irreversible damage to humans and marine life.
“Our actions in the West Philippine Sea are designed to secure our sovereignty and sovereign rights and that would include protecting the environment,” Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesman for WPS, told reporters in a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo.
“All of our actions are based on scientific evidence. We do not fabricate news. It took more than a year to be able to have this liquid checked to confirm that it contains cyanide,” Trinidad said.
The NMC said the laboratory findings “remove any doubt as to the dangerous and unlawful nature” of these activities and that the deliberate use of cyanide raises serious concerns of the illegal and destructive practices of the Chinese which also threatens PN personnel on board LS-57.
China, meanwhile, described the Philippines’ claim as a mere “stunt” and said it was the PN who harassed the Chinese fishermen in Ren’ai Jiao, the Chinese name for Ayungin Shoal.
The bottles were confiscated by troops on board LS-57 from Chinese sampans on Feb. 20 and Oct. 24, 2025. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also conducted water analysis from samples taken from the shoal in April 2025 and March 2026. Based on the physical, chemical and instrumental analysis, the water sample gave positive results for the presence of cyanide, NBI Forensic Chemistry Division Supervising Chemist Mujib Piang said in a briefing.
Initial assessment also revealed beds of dead corals presumably linked to cyanide exposure in the area, Trinidad said.
“The area surrounding LS-57 would show irreparable damage to the coral reef, quite extensive. Not just cyanide but also illegal fishing methods such as fine mesh nets and even larger nets on the entrance of Ayungin Shoal which are designed to impede or to hamper RoRe (Rotation and Resupply) missions,” Trinidad said.
“These nets also aided in the destruction of the coral reefs,” he added.
