MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines did not mean to create trouble but was only protecting the welfare of its fishermen in its maritime territory when it removed the floating barrier installed by China in Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, President Marcos said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters in Surigao del Norte, Marcos stressed that the area where the China Coast Guard (CCG) placed the floating barrier is well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. He said the Philippines was not trying to escalate tension in the West Philippine Sea.
“We are not looking for trouble. What we do is we will continue to defend the Philippines, the maritime territory of the Philippines, the rights of our fishermen who fish there, where they have been fishing for hundreds of years,” he said. “That’s why I don’t understand why it changed.”
“Again, many of these are operational issues and that I really cannot talk about. But in terms of taking down the barrier, I don’t see what else we could do,” the President stressed.
“It’s not right to put a barrier like that as it is clear that it is within the Philippines,” Marcos said partly in Filipino.
This was the first time Marcos spoke about the issue, adding he was surprised by China’s latest action in the West Philippine Sea.
The Chief Executive noted that when the fishermen reentered the area previously blocked by the Chinese, they were able to catch 164 tons of fish in just one day.
“As I have said, we avoid trouble, we avoid provocative language but we remain resolute in defending the Philippine territory,” he said.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) removed the 300-meter long barrier installed by the CCG in the southeast portion of the shoal upon the instruction of Marcos.
Beijing, through foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, assailed Manila for removing the floating barrier, insisting that Panatag Shoal is Chinese territory.
“I would like to reiterate that Huangyan Dao has always been China’s territory,” he said, calling Panatag Shoal by its name assigned by Beijing.
“What the Philippines did looks like nothing more than self-amusement,” he said in a statement shared by the Chinese embassy in Manila.
Panatag Shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc is classified as traditional fishing ground of Filipinos in the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the case filed against China by the Aquino administration in 2013. The ruling invalidated China’s massive South China Sea claim and reaffirmed the Philippines’ maritime entitlements.
Meanwhile, militant fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has urged the government to be more proactive in dealing with China to prevent the latter from committing more “dastardly acts” in the West Philippine Sea.
While praising the PCG’s removal of floating barriers in the Panatag Shoal, Pamalakaya said the installation of barriers could have been avoided had there been regular Philippine patrols in the area.
“We demand that the PCG should fortify outposts in the West Philippine Sea and enforce basic rules of engagement in the event of another aggressive confrontation with Chinese forces,” Pamalakaya vice chairperson for Luzon Bobby Roldan said. — Michael Punongbayan, Emmanuel Tupas, Jun Elias