A report also came out saying that South Vietnamese officials managed to send prostitutes to the birthday party to lure the Filipino soldiers guarding Pugad.

This tactic is believed to be the reason why South Vietnamese forces knew that the Filipino soldiers left the island, an action that is usually kept confidential.

After higher-ups of the Philippines were informed about the situation, they instructed the troops based in Parola and Pagasa (Thitu Island) to stay on red alert status.

It had been apparent that most of the officials, who considered the North Vietnamese communists to be a threat to Filipino national security, wanted to attack Southwest Cay (Pugad) to reclaim it.

However, after an intelligence report came stating that the unified Vietnam had already built a huge concrete garrison within a few weeks, the officials dropped the plan and tried to resolve the issue diplomatically.

However, this approach eventually died along the process making Southwest Cay (Song Tử Tây) a Vietnamese-occupied island up to this day.

[citation needed] Although Vietnam, China (PRC), Taiwan (ROC), and the Philippines all claim the island, no clashes have been reported since 1975.

[citation needed] The island currently hosts periodic joint exercises and sporting activities between the Vietnamese and Philippine militaries.