A ranking National Security Council (NSC) official on Monday said that intensive laboratory testing confirmed that yellow bottles recovered by the Navy (PN) from Chinese sampans operating near BRP Sierra Madre (LS-57) AT Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) were “positive for the presence of cyanide.” “The bottles containing cyanide were seized by the Navy from Chinese sampans in February 2025 and on October 24, 2025. Laboratory analysis conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation [NBI]’s Forensic and Scientific Research Service has conclusively established that the yellow bottles seized from the sampans contain cyanide, a highly toxic chemical known to cause severe and irreversible damage to humans and marine ecosystems,” the NSC spokesperson, Assistant Director General Cornelio Valencia Jr., said in a statement.

Naval, R. A. (2026, April 14). Bottles containing cyanide found in Chinese sampans at Ayungin Shoal-NSC. BusinessMirror, p. A3.