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Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star
May 6, 2026 | 12:00am
Akbayan Representative Dadah Ismula gives a statement before the media on May 5, 2026
STAR / Michael Varcas
MANILA, Philippines — Organizers of the latest civilian mission to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) slammed China’s “copycat” moves of flag planting in Sandy Cay, as well as its spread of fake news that the Philippine civilian mission left behind trash on the sandbar.
“Here they are again with their fake news. This is a desperate attempt to reframe our narrative of a principled civilian mission and discredit our mission in Sandy Cay, which was successful,” Akbayan party-list Rep. Dadah Kiram Ismula told reporters aboard the MV Kapitan Felix Oca.
Ismula emphasized that China is the one causing environmental degradation in the WPS by damaging coral reefs, harvesting giant clams and even engaging in cyanide fishing.
She described as definitely false the accusation that she, student leader Matthew Christian Silverio as well as the Philippine Navy and Philippine Coast Guard personnel who escorted them on their trip to Sandy Cay to plant the Philippine and Atin Ito flags left behind plastic bottles and other garbage on the sandbar.
“I have a bodycam and there are drone shots. We stayed there for less than 10 minutes and no trash was left there. Come to think of it, they (CCG) were the ones who ‘planted’ garbage there in Sandy Cay,” she stressed.
Ismula said Sandy Cay 1, also locally known as Pag-asa Cay 2, was “very clean and very beautiful” and there was no trash, contrary to the CCG’s claims.
According to her, China was definitely threatened by what Atin Ito was able to achieve – even necessitating a statement from the Chinese embassy in Manila.
Atin Ito, which just completed its fourth successful civilian mission in the WPS, said China’s act of also planting the Chinese flag in the low-elevation feature just hours after the Philippines did, as reported by Global Times, is a desperate “copycat” move coupled with “fake news.”
Atin Ito lead convenor and Akbayan Party president Rafaela David said the flags planted by Ismula and Silverio at Sandy Cay 1 were retrieved after a few hours “because we do not want to give China the opportunity to harass and deface the Philippine flag.”
She said China’s propaganda and fake news accusing the Philippines of littering on the sandbar is impossible and “we have all the evidence to show that they are definitely lying.”
Ismula, the first female Moro legislator and indigenous peoples group member to set foot on Pag-asa Island, also carried out a “patriotic jet ski flag ride” in the island’s waters as a historic and symbolic act of declaring that the WPS belongs to the Philippines.
‘Holy Beats’
Also aboard the MV Kapitan Felix Oca was Fr. Allan Bonloc, or “Father Rap,” who rocked the civilian mission Monday night with a patriotic rap song and is now being dubbed by his newfound fans as the “founding member” of “Holy Beats.”
“I don’t rap, I sing, but because of the new learning from our friends, the Morobeats, I was really engaged. So that’s how it feels like, to express yourself in other ways aside from singing, but rap. I enjoyed it,” he told The STAR.
Father Rap, 52, of Project Paghilom and Project Kalinga, who stays at the Catholic Trade Manila in Tayuman, Sta. Cruz, Manila, said rapping is “in” and he intends to continue doing it to capture the youth’s attention.
About his joining Atin Ito’s fourth civilian mission to the WPS, Fr. Rap said he was actually chosen and sent by Fr. Flavie Villanueva.
“I said, why not. Though there was a slight apprehension, fear, because I heard and I read that those who go there are being chased or harassed by Chinese vessels,” he said.
