EDITORIAL - Forgive and forget?

Even without a gift of mooncake, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez shook hands yesterday with Chinese Ambassador Wang Chunggi. Perez had demanded the expulsion of Wang after the Chinese envoy reportedly banged his fist repeatedly on the table of the justice chief last week, demanding the release of 122 Chinese fishermen caught poaching in Philippine waters.

Yesterday, Wang said he and Perez had reconciled and would forget the incident. The 122 Chinese would plead guilty and pay a fine of more than P2.5 million. In turn Perez withdrew his demand to have Wang declared persona non grata.

Perez can probably forgive and forget, although he may henceforth be wary of visitors bearing gifts of mooncake. But the nation can’t afford to bury the problem of poaching. Foreign fishermen, mostly Chinese, enter Phi-lippine territorial waters not just for regular fish catch but also to gather corals and snare endangered species such as sea turtles. They have ventured as far as Tubbataha Reef, a world heritage site in the waters of Palawan that is off limits to fishing and even to regular tourists.

Ties between the Philippines and China go back centuries, and it has been said that every Filipino has a Chinese ancestor. Chinese influence can be seen in Philippine culture and the national language. Both countries are expected to settle peacefully any dispute, including overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea. Resolving the territorial claims would take years. But it would be in the interest of both countries to settle quickly the dispute over poaching.

The most worrisome aspect of Chinese fishermen’s intrusion into Philippine waters is their use of destructive methods of fishing and their collection even of endangered species. Corals are the breeding grounds of marine life, and their destruction is endangering the marine ecosystem. Indiscriminate harvesting of corals has been one of the factors behind the significant drop in fish catch worldwide in the past years. No matter where the coral reefs are located, China also has a stake in preserving them and promoting sustainable fishing. Unless the problem of poaching is properly addressed, the row between Perez and the Chinese ambassador won’t be the last.