President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has ordered a comprehensive inspection of all dredging vessels operating in Manila Bay amid reports that a Chinese-origin dredger cycled through dozens of identities while working in Philippine waters.
“The President orders the PCG to board all the dredgers operating in Manila Bay as part of the reclamation project and inspect their vessel registration and AIS transmission,” Communications Undersecretary and Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Tuesday, referring to the Automatic Identification System used for maritime tracking.
The directive follows an analysis by maritime security expert Ray Powell of SeaLight, which found that the dredger Kang Ling 539 allegedly broadcast at least 30 different identities over more than two years while moving between Manila Bay and a dredging site in Zambales.
The vessel reportedly operated under multiple flag states, including the Philippines, China, Sierra Leone, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Panama—an approach experts say can obscure ownership and evade regulations.
Dredging and reclamation projects remain a sensitive issue in the Philippines due to environmental concerns, national security risks, and China’s track record of aggressive land reclamation in the South China Sea.
Under Philippine law, dredgers transporting sand between domestic locations must be at least 60% Filipino-owned, Philippine-flagged, and crewed by Filipinos.
Foreign-owned or foreign-flagged dredgers are barred from routine operations unless legally reflagged and transferred to qualified domestic ownership.
This is not the first such move by the Marcos administration. In May 2025, the President ordered a nationwide probe into dredging activities following reports that Philippine sand was being diverted for Chinese reclamation projects.