MANILA, Philippines — Local fishermen should not sail to the West Philippine Sea alone, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said yesterday, following reports that the Chinese coast guard forced Filipino fisherfolk to return shells they had gathered from Panatag or Scarborough Shoal.
“The best advice I can give is that small fishermen should not go there solo. A lot of times also we have fishermen rescued at sea because they went solo. There is strength in numbers, and there is enough catch for all as long as you are unimpeded inside the Bajo de Masinloc. An average fishing expedition there is up to 15 tons at times for the small vessels,” Teodoro said, referring to Panatag by one of its local names.
Teodoro noted that the government has a program to organize fishermen, provide them needed sea services and increase their capacity. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources also has an initiative to make the fishermen’s vessels bigger, he added.
Earlier this month, Chinese coast guard personnel ordered Filipino fishermen to return the shells they had collected from the Panatag Shoal to the sea, Philippine Coast Guard-West Philippine Sea (PCG-WPS) spokesman Commodore Jay Tarriela reported.
Citing a statement by a Zambales resident, Tarriela said that there were five China Coast Guard personnel on board a rubber boat who approached the Filipino fishermen.
According to him, four of them disembarked and chased after the fishermen while one Chinese coast guard personnel grabbed the fishing boat, preventing it from leaving unless the shells were thrown back into the sea.
The defense chief added that the government has contingency measures and long-term plans on the West Philippine Sea, but clarified that the national task force formed to handle the issue has the sole authority to answer questions about the incidents in the area.
“But that doesn’t go to say that we do not condemn the act of China, which... has no business... harassing Filipino fishermen,” he said during a Manila Overseas Press Club forum in Makati on Tuesday.
Teodoro said the Philippines needs to continue filing protests so as not to yield to China’s actions in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where over $5 trillion in goods passes through every year.
Spillover effect
Teodoro said the Philippines cannot be blamed for any spillover effect that may result from the West Philippine Sea row since it is not the one intruding into another country’s exclusive economic zone.
“The spillover effects, we are fully cognizant of it, but it is not our fault. We are not the ones encroaching on the exclusive economic zone of another country,” Teodoro said.
“The encroacher has a vast area of sea and if they ask us to meet them halfway when they have already eaten three-fourths of the way into our exclusive economic zone, where is the fairness in that?... Who’s fooling who? And if there are spillover effects, we are not to blame,” he added.
Teodoro reiterated the Philippines does not want a fight with China but the peace must be based on international law and sustainability.
“It (peace) cannot be based on formless dialogue where one party does not cease to expand its area of influence illegally to the detriment of a smaller country,” the defense chief said.
“The bottom line is that Philippine law, which is consistent with UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), (should) be respected by China. We cannot meet halfway with China in that because that is forcing us without our choice to be its sole partner in developing those resources which rightly belong to Filipino citizens,” he said.
According to Teodoro, the Philippines would increase the tempo of its activities with allies and other major partners not only in the West Philippine Sea but in other areas of the country.
“The MOU (memorandum of understanding) list is growing. This will allow us to access, on a government-to-government basis, different capabilities,” he said, citing an imminent reciprocal access agreement with Japan. – Michael Punongbayan, Cecille Suerte Felipe