The Philippine Navy (PN) was not surprised that China would deny the alleged cyanide poisoning being blamed on them, days after the PN revealed that some cyanide bottles were discovered near the BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) in Ayungin Shoal, West Philippine Sea (WPS) last year.
“What do we expect? Will they admit it? All of this is part of their deceptive messaging. Everything we are bringing out as truth through our transparency initiative is actually being contradicted and said to be fabricated by us,” said Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy Spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, during the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon program of the Presidential Communications Office on Thursday.
Earlier this week, a ranking National Security Council official said the PN allegedly seized cyanide bottles from Chinese sampans in February 2025 and on 24 October 2025.
Beijing was quick to debunk the NSC’s claims, with China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Guo Jiakun saying it was the PN that harassed the Chinese fishermen in Ayungin Shoal.
“First of all, we are not making up stories. Number two, it was confiscated last year. It took time before we brought it down here and tested it. Number three, we are bringing it out so that the public knows what the Chinese communist party is doing in our oceans,” Trinidad stressed.
“Recently, not only cyanide but also the espionage issue, we have also lambasted it. So, we are not in the process of fabricating information; what we are bringing out to the public, it is true,” Trinidad added.
The PN admiral maintained that cyanide is damaging to the marine environment, and there was irreparable coral reef damage caused by the use of cyanide.
“Also, we are exposing our men to greater risk when they ingest the fish or suck it up into our desalinating machines aboard ship. It is possible that something could happen to our soldiers aboard BFP Sierra Madre. So, the question we're looking at now was this an attempt to possibly poison our men by putting cyanide into the suction of our desalinating machines? This is what we're looking at,” he said.
The Navy official said the damage to the coral from the use of cyanide was huge.
“I could say a good number of square miles, iyon pa lang ang napuntahan ng ating mga kasundaluhan sa BFP Sierra Madre. And I will not be surprised kung sa ibang parte pa ng shoal, in fact, sa ibang shallow waters within our Exclusive Economic Zone sa West Philippine Sea, maaaring marami na rin diyan ang may irreparable coral damage because of the use of cyanide fishing,” according to the official. (RAFFY AYENG)