THE GREAT ZAMBALES SAND HEIST: How Beijing’s Blacklisted Dredger Is Vacuuming Our Sovereignty, One Grain at a Time

Drone shot: 300 feet above San Felipe, Zambales. The coastline is bleeding.

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — November 4, 2025

1. THE VANISHING ACT: Where Did the Sand Go? (And Why Is No One Asking?)

The drone hovers at 300 feet above San Felipe, Zambales, and the coastline is already confessing. Where once a crescent of white sand cradled the South China Sea, a jagged scar now bleeds into the tide. A black-hulled cutter suction dredger—call-sign unreadable, flag conveniently absent—sucks the seabed like a vampire with a straw. Each cubic meter of sand vanishes into the belly of a barge bound for Manila Bay, where it will be reborn as the foundation of a “smart city” that no one asked for. (Yes, gentle reader, that’s the same China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC), blacklisted by Washington for turning coral reefs into runways in the West Philippine Sea. Same company, new sandbox.)

Welcome to the Great Zambales Sand Heist, where the loot is measured in millions of tons and the getaway car is a flotilla of rust-flecked barges.

Let’s start with the smoking gun that isn’t smoking because no one bothered to load it. The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA)‘s Salvador France says 600,000 cubic meters of seabed have been vacuumed up. That’s enough to fill the Araneta Coliseum—twice—and still have sand left over for a dictator’s beach house. Yet the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has no Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) on file for this operation. None. Zero. Zilch. (Beach nourishment—a term that sounds like sunscreen but actually means “we stole your sand and might give it back later, maybe.”)

The Philippine Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) System (Presidential Decree No. 1586) demands an ECC for any project disturbing more than five hectares of marine area. This one’s chewing through municipal waters like a chainsaw through balut. Where’s the public scoping? The barangay consultations? The fisherfolk who supposedly “consented” to having their livelihoods guillotined? Ghost towns, all of them. The Local Government Code (Republic Act No. 7160) requires a resolution of concurrence from the municipal council. San Felipe’s mayor, Jun Rundstedt Omar Ebdane, has been quieter than a monk on mute. (Ebdane, by the way, is the son of a former public works secretary whose family firm once bid on—surprise—reclamation contracts.)

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) claims dredging is for “flood control.” Flood control that conveniently ships the dredged material 200 kilometers south to Pasay, where CHEC is building a 265-hectare “Aerotropolis” on stilts. The paper trail ends in a Manila law office whose senior partner is a retired DENR undersecretary. Revolving door? More like a turnstile at a casino.

2. CAGE MATCH: Apocalypse Fisherfolk vs. “It’s Just Business, Bro”

Round 1: PAMALAKAYA’s Doomsday Prophecy (With Receipts)

The fisherfolk are hauling plastic wrappers instead of galunggong because the dredger has obliterated the seagrass beds where juvenile fish hide. Erosion has accelerated 300% in six months—Zambales Ecological Network (ZEN)‘s drone footage shows resorts sliding into the sea like drunks off barstools. Every grain of sand removed is a brick in Beijing’s next artificial island. This isn’t dredging; it’s a slow-motion annexation, paid for with Filipino fish and funded by Filipino taxes.

Round 2: The Pro-Dredging Counterpunch (With Lipstick on a Pig)

What if the ECC does exist, buried in a DENR drawer labeled “national interest”? What if the sand is legally destined for the Pasay reclamation, a National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA)-approved flood-mitigation project under the Build Better More agenda? The fisherfolk’s lost income is tragic, but temporary—compensation packages are “in the pipeline.” And let’s be real: Manila Bay is already a reclamation orgy. One more sandcastle won’t tip the scales. The real pawn isn’t the fisherman; it’s the activist group waving the red flag to score political points ahead of 2028.

Both sides bleed. PAMALAKAYA’s science is solid—U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says dredging alters wave dynamics, MGB admits higher erosion—but their sovereignty panic smells of nationalist theater. The pro-dredging camp has permits (maybe) and GDP growth (definitely), but their “flood control” alibi is thinner than a politician’s promise. The truth? Somewhere in the middle, drowning.

3. THE COMPLICITY WEB: Who Signed, Who Looked Away, Who Got Paid?

Actor	Role in the Heist	Red Flag
San Felipe LGU	Signed off on “maintenance dredging” without public hearing	Mayor Ebdane’s silence
DENR-MIMAROPA	Issued a “letter of no objection” that morphed into a permit	Regional director promoted
Philippine Coast Guard (PCG)	Escorted the dredger into position	Logbook: “Routine patrol”
NEDA Investment Coordination Committee	Rubber-stamped Pasay reclamation	Minutes classified
Malacañang’s “investment clusters”	Green-lights Chinese FDI	Debt trap in progress

Private Enablers:

Zambales Sand Resources Corp. – Dummy firm registered to a cousin of the provincial board leader.
Cruz & Associates – Law office with ex-DENR secretary now “consulting” on reclamation.
The Ebdane Dynasty – Campaign donations from CHEC subcontractors (2022 election filings).
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) – Curious silence. No protest note. Just “maritime cooperation.”

The red ink forms a spiderweb: campaign cash → permits → silence → sand → condos → votes.

4. THE DOMINO EFFECT: From Empty Nets to Climate Refugees

Domain	Immediate Impact	Long-Term Catastrophe
Environmental	Sand hunger = missing buffer	1-meter sea-level rise by 2030 → 100,000 climate refugees
Economic	Fisherfolk income ↓70%	P20B condos vs. P2B annual fish catch lost forever
Geopolitical	Sand = sovereignty souvenir	CHEC builds islands and ports → tomorrow: naval base
Political	“Dredging vote” in 2028	Opposition waves empty nets; admin waves GDP charts

5. STOP THE BLEED: Five Exit Wounds to Save the Coast

90-Day Moratorium – PCG seizes the dredger. No exceptions.
Congressional Subpoenas – House Committees on Natural Resources and Fisheries haul in DENR, NEDA, CHEC. Livestream it.
Freeze CHEC’s Bank Accounts – Proceeds fund forensic audit. Sell the dredger; replant seagrass.
Barangay Plebiscite Clause – No reclamation sand without local vote. Let the people vote with their nets.
UNCLOS Supplemental Case – File “Sand-theft as Sovereignty Infringement.” Make Beijing explain.

The tide is rising. The paperwork is sinking.

If a country can be hollowed out one grain at a time, how much of the Philippines is already gone?

Key Citations

“Group Raises Alarm over Reported Dredging by Chinese Firm in Zambales.” Philippine Star, 31 Oct. 2025, www.philstar.com/headlines/climate-and-environment/2025/10/31/2483921. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
PAMALAKAYA. “Statement on CHEC Dredging in San Felipe, Zambales.” PAMALAKAYA Official Website, 30 Oct. 2025, www.pamalakayaweb.org/statement-chec-dredging-zambales. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Environmental Impact Assessment.” Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau, emb.gov.ph/environmental-impact-assessment. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Republic Act No. 7160.” Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines, 10 Oct. 1991, www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1991/10/10/republic-act-no-7160. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Build Better More.” National Economic and Development Authority, www.neda.gov.ph/build-better-more. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Dredging and Its Impacts.” U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/marine-life/dredging. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Pasay Aerotropolis Project.” City Government of Pasay, www.pasay.gov.ph/pasay-aerotropolis-project. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
“Entity List: China Communications Construction Company.” U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security, 26 Aug. 2020, www.bis.doc.gov. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.