Senator Risa Hontiveros on Thursday reiterated her call for China to pay the government reparations for the value of the wealth and marine life they have stolen in the West Philippine Sea.
Due to Beijing’s adventurism in the disputed waters, Hontiveros said the Philippines suffered P231.7-billion worth of ruined reefs for seven years, as published by the international journal Ecosystem Services last year.
“Time to pay up. The Chinese Embassy has long ignored our call when we asked them to pay more than P200-billion for the damage China has done on the WPS since 2013,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“But now, the damage on our own maritime environment has reached more than P800-billion. That’s why we continue to press for them to pay,” she said.
On top of this, the senator said there has been a total of P644-billion looted fish catch since 2014, based on the recent computations of investigative journalist Jarius Bondoc, who arrived at the amount by multiplying the 1.2 million tons of fish that are usually caught by Chinese vessels in Zamora and Panganiban reefs annually.
Hontiveros, who filed Senate Resolution 369 to pressure China to foot the bill of the Philippines’ COVID-19 response by paying the over P200-billion worth of reparations, said it is now time to update the recent computations.
“We cannot take back the marine resources that China has destroyed in the WPS. Let’s go after China for their debt. Let’s not let them get away for the abuses they heap on our nation,” the senator said.
“They’ve been harassing our fishermen, and at the same time destroying our reefs. Let’s not allow China to get away with this,” she added.
The lawmaker emphasized that Filipinos have the legitimate right to demand reparations, noting how Japan had already paid the Philippines reparations for, among others, the destruction of Manila during World War II.
She recalled that the United States paid the Philippines after the USS Guardian gashed corals around the Sulu Sea in 2015.
“We have to find a way to make China pay. If other countries can pay, why can’t China? Is it because of this special relationship? Let’s not allow China’s debts to us balloon and in the end, we end up bankrupt,” she reiterated.