According to Philippines officials, China has yet not stopped the construction of artificial islands on at least two reefs that Manila also claims. Beijing has previously promised to end some work soon, but construction is still going on in full swing in the two disputed reefs.

Kalayaan Island is under Philippines control in the disputed Spratly chain of the South China Sea and its Mayor Eugenio Bito-onon said Friday that he saw many dredgers and a huge crane on the emerging man-made island after he flew near the Chinese-controlled Subi Reef.

China's island-building is also going on at Mischief Reef, said two senior Philippines military officials. China's reclamation operations in the West Philippines Sea have drawn flak from one of the Philippines' foremost scientists.

A study was recently presented by University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute Professor Emeritus Dr. Edgardo Gomez to show how several coral reef systems, including Burgos Reef and Kagitingan Reef, are being badly affected by China's activities in the contested Spratly group of islands.

The Spratly coral reef ecosystem is valued at over $350,000 per hectare per year. However, a press release by the Department of Agriculture Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has claimed that destruction has already been caused to an estimated area of 311 hectares of reef ecosystems in Spratlys or the Kalayaan Group of Islands.

“Healthy coral reefs in the West Philippine Sea are very important not only to us but also to the productivity of neighboring marginal seas made possible through larval connectivity”, said Gomez.