The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is considering taking “appropriate action” against China after it erroneously claimed that it has already seized Sandy Cay, a tiny sandbank near Pagasa Island where a Philippine military facility is located.

This photo from Chinese state media shows Chinese soldiers holding a flag of China's flag at Sandy Cay in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the High-Level Conference of Middle-Income Countries (HLC-MICs) at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel on Monday, April 28, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo disclosed that they are closely monitoring the situation to come up with a plan.
 

“We’re considering appropriate action, if needed, on this but we’ll be consulting, of course, the various agencies,” he said. “Nothing at the moment but certainly, it’s a possibility and we’re considering all these options.”
 

The DFA chief added that “we are looking at developments like these” amid a commitment to the 2002 Declaration on the Code of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea and recent negotiations on finalizing a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea by next year.
 

“So, we hope countries can, at least, minimize or refrain from taking actions such as this but we’re closely monitoring it and trying to see exactly what the plans are with respect to that,” Manalo explained.
 

This came after China Coast Guard officers reportedly raised the Chinese flag and conducted inspection of Sandy Cay, which is well-within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
 

The National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) also on Monday vehemently denied that the maritime feature has been seized by China as National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya assured Filipinos that there was no Chinese occupation of the sandbar.

In his regular press conference, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun insisted that Sandy Cay, which China calls Tiexian Jiao, is part of its Nansha Qundao, also known as Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.

"China's rights-defending law enforcement activities in accordance with the law are aimed at countering the Philippines' illegal landing and other infringement and provocations activities," he said.

Jiakun claimed the CCG officers landed on the disputed reef to assert China's sovereignty ensuring Sandy Cay's "state of hosting no personnel or facilities and firmly upholding the sanctity of the DOC."

Another “situation” that the DFA is monitoring along with relevant agencies is the report that Chinese Navy vessels have been spotted near where the Balikatan Exercises with the United States were being conducted.
 

“We’re also closely monitoring the situation and we want to see exactly how they’ll proceed and what they have in mind. Perhaps, they’re just monitoring what is going on but certainly, it’s something that we have to monitor very closely—what they’re doing and to see whether they are undertaking any kind of action or just simply going through the area,” Manalo said.
 

He added that the DFA relies on reports from the NTF-WPS and the Department of National Defense (DND).
 

The DFA chief also dismissed that China’s presence near the military exercises was a reaction to the location of the US’ Typhon missile system, which can launch Tomahawk cruise missiles and hit as far as China and Russia.
 

BrahMos Aerospace Private Ltd.—an Indian-Russian joint venture—also recently sent the second of three batches of the BrahMos medium-range supersonic missile.
 

The arrival in the Philippine has yet to be disclosed as it was sent on a ship and not on an Indian Air Force transport aircraft as was done with the first batch last year.
 

“These are our own national actions and we don’t think that it requires a reaction. There are no other country talking about what we are doing except China, so I think those are our own… those are activities which address our own national defense needs and the national security needs,” Manalo stressed.
 

For decades, the Philippines and China have been fighting over the resource-rich West Philippine Sea as Beijing continues to claim features inside Manila’s EEZs.