Philippine nickel ore used in China’s island building?

Was Philippine soil used in China’s island building in the disputed seas? That news, attributed to Zambales governor Amor Deloso, needs confirming. More so since it infers treason by sinister parties.

But the report needs some correcting first. Published last week, it quoted Deloso as saying that two mountains in his province were leveled as landfill for China’s reclamation of Scarborough Shoal. Seven nickel mines operated by Chinese nationals supposedly did it during the tenure of his predecessor Hermogenes Ebdane. The seven mines were not identified. Deloso further was quoted as citing a Dept. of Foreign Affairs estimate of the reclamation at 3,000 hectares. Thus the shoal allegedly has been converted into an artificial island. Severely affected was the environment of Santa Cruz municipality, and the marine resources of Scarborough.

Fact is, while China invaded Scarborough in 2012, it has not made the shoal into an artificial island. The island making occurred in 2013-2014 in seven other portions of the South China (West Philippine) Sea. Like Scarborough, the seven are within the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone. Those are Mischief Reef, Fiery Cross Reef, Cuarteron Reef, Gaven Reef, Johnson South Reef, Hughes Reef, and McKennan Reef. China began reclaiming Mischief in 1995, and expanded the area, along with the six other rocks. The artificial islands consist of sand from the seabed and rocks. Portions have been concreted as seaports. On Fiery Cross is a three-kilometer long aircraft runway. The DFA and the US State Department estimate the reclamation to cover 3,200 acres, or 1,300 hectares.

Scarborough, also called Panatag Shoal and Bajo de Masinloc, is a traditional Filipino fishing ground. It is 123 miles from the coast of Masinloc, Zambales. The recent ruling of the UN arbitral court declared Scarborough as a traditional fishing ground of other East Asians as well.

This column exposed starting 2012 the destructive nickel mining in Santa Cruz and surrounding Zambales towns. The provincial capitol had granted hundreds of small-scale mining permits. With Filipinos as fronts, Chinese nationals actually engaged in large-scale mining. Not mere picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows were used, but dozens of heavy excavating equipment and bulldozers, and hundreds of dump trucks. Hundreds of thousands of tons of nickel ore – rocks the size of a fist to a football – were loaded onto bulk-cargo ships and transported to China. Three big Chinese miners were involved: Nihao, Wei-Wei, and Jiangxi.

Nickel is used in the steel and communications industries. It is a crucial component in China’s weapons and shipbuilding, as well as spyware. The processed nickel from Zambales likely was used in China’s equipment to grab Scarborough.

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The news item went on about the destruction of Zambales’ forests and Scarborough’s marine resources. Environment and Natural Resources Sec. Gina Lopez was reportedly aghast with the news. She has ordered an investigation, and promised to punish any department underling involved in the environmental mess.

This column in fact reported the harmful effects of the nickel mining on the townfolk’s health. The deforestation dried up the rivers and destroyed wildlife. Seas were muddied. Floods ruined farmlands. Emissions from the hundreds of dump trucks made northern Zambales the most afflicted with respiratory ailments.

The Noynoy Aquino administration paid no heed then. The governor, a former police general, once headed the close-in security of President Cory Aquino’s family. Noynoy was said to be his friend. Police and natural resources officials did not enforce health and environment laws against the Chinese nationals.

Still, was Philippine soil used to reclaim the rocks and underwater elevations that China grabbed? And did the filling material also come from other nickel mines, including in Surigao and Agusan?

It would help Secretary Gina’s investigators to gather data from various agencies. From the Mines and Geosciences Bureau they can get info on how much nickel ore was extracted in Luzon and Mindanao in 2012-2014. One mine in Agusan, operated by friends of Noynoy and campaign contributors of his Liberal Party, had in fact over-extracted millions of tons of ore. President Rody Duterte has denounced that miner, SR Metals Corp., for environmental ruin.

With the data, the investigators can calculate how much ore could have been used to reclaim 1,300 hectares of reefs up to, say, ten meters high.

How was the ore transported to the artificial islands? Investigators should study the aerial and satellite photographs of the Chinese rush construction. Those show that not only dredgers were used to suck up sand from the seabed onto the rock formations. There were also dozens of hauling barges called LCT (Landing Craft Tank). It would surprise the investigators to find out that China sold very cheap LCTs to Philippine nickel mines.

The Maritime Industry Authority would have the figures. Investigators would be able to calculate, at 300 tons load capacity per LCT, how many trips it took to transport the nickel ore to the reclamations.

Now why would China use nickel ore as landfill instead of processing it for steel mills? The answer lies in the gap between low-grade Philippine nickel and the Chinese processors’ high-grade preference. Also worth looking into is the location of the ore processing plants far inland of China. Loading and unloading the ore from ships to trains would have been more expensive than converting the ore into instant landfill.

The intelligence agencies would have more info on that. They likely know too, which Filipino nickel miners collaborated in the Chinese reclamation binge.

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Probers must get figures on how much ore was extracted in Zambales and Mindanao, and how many barges were used.