China accusing the Philippines of being an environmental menace for allowing the rusting BRP Sierra Madre landing ship to remain moored at Ayungin Shoal is "hypocritical," Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said.

"The statement of China that the grounded Sierra Madre is causing irrevocable harm is, to put it as politely as possible, hypocritical," Teodoro, reacting to Mao's statement, told reporters on Saturday.

Teodoro was reacting to Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning's statement that the rusting BRP Sierra Madre ship was a pollutant and source of waste in the West Philippine Sea.

The BRP Sierra Madre is a landing vessel deliberately grounded on Ayungin Shoal in 1995 to serve as an outpost manned by a platoon of Marines.

Mao called the Philippines to tow the Sierra Madre away from the shoal.

He urged to "stop polluting" the waters around it "if it really cares about the environment."

Philippine officials were not amused, however.

The Office of the Solicitor General said it is considering filing a lawsuit against China before an international court for destroying corals in at least two key features in the WPS, namely, Rozul or Iroquois Reef and Escoda or Sabina Shoal.

Pot calls kettle black

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. China continues to damage the WPS with its illegal reclamation activities after it was found to be a violator of international law in the 2016 Arbitral Award when such activities damaged the marine environment," Teodoro said.

He described China's remarks as mere "propaganda" to divert international attention from its illegal activities in the WPS.

"Disingenuous propaganda lines such as this only serve to expose China's insincerity and will only heighten the mistrust of the Filipino people and the rest of the world toward the Chinese government," Teodoro said.