‘Claim damages from China for ruined reefs’

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government should demand compensation from China for the damage its coast guard and fishermen caused on the endangered coral reefs in Panatag or Scarborough Shoal, Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday.

Gordon said the government can cite the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and international environmental measures in seeking damages from China as Panatag Shoal is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“We have reasons to hold them (China) accountable but we must pursue it the diplomatic way,” the senator told dzBB.

He also asked Malacañang to give congressional leaders a full and private briefing on the administration’s policy towards China to allow the government to speak in one voice with regard to recent incidents in the disputed South China Sea.

“Foreign policy is subject to perpetual review,” Gordon said, adding the government should also press for a code of conduct with China and other claimant countries to the disputed waters.

He also asked the Duterte administration to spend more for a minimum credible defensive capability.

Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea, earlier reported that Chinese clam diggers have considerably damaged the Scarborough Shoal since 2012.

Based on Google Earth pictures, he said some 552 hectares of the inner reef of the shoal have been “visibly destroyed” by clam-diggers.

The UN Permanent Court of Arbitration has declared Scarborough Shoal as a common fishing ground open to all, but the Chinese coast guard has effectively maintained control over it.

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