House Deputy Speaker Rufus Rodriguez on Wednesday, March 24 urged the Duterte administration to clarify reports that the Philippine government practically allowed Chinese fishing vessels to stay in the Juan Felipe Reef off a town in Palawan in exchange for China’s donation of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Rodriguez said many Filipinos are asking for a clear response from government in the wake of Beijing’s latest intrusion in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).  

Rodriguez said it has been noted that the massing of more than 200 of Chinese vessels off Bataraza town in Palawan coincidentally took place within eight (8) days from the delivery of the initial 600,000 COVID-19 shots donated by China and within one week from the rollout of the vaccination program.

The Sinovac jabs, he noted, were delivered on Feb. 28, while the rollout of the vaccination started on March 1.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) discovered the presence of the huge fishing flotilla in the Julian Felipe reef, which is part of the country’s exclusive economic and exploration zone (EEZ) under international law, on March 7.

“This sequence of events makes many of us wonder if there is a connection between the vaccine donation and China’s latest incursion in the West Philippine Sea, if we did not exchange marine resources for vaccine,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

“We are grateful to China for the donated vaccine but we must condemn in the strongest possible terms this newest intrusion into our EEZ,” he stressed. 

“The donation should not give them reason to enter our territory and violate our territorial integrity,” the lawmaker emphasized.

Rodriguez also rejected Beijing’s claim that their fishing flotilla took shelter in the reef due to rough sea conditions.

“If that were the case, they should have left the area, because it has been more than two weeks since they were discovered… (So) what are their intentions there?” he asked.

He said the House of Representatives and Senate should rush the passage of the bill seeking to define the country’s maritime zones and territory for China to take notice of such delineation. 

Rodriguez, in February last year, filed House Bill No. 6156,  seeking to declare and define  the maritime zones “under the jurisdiction of the Republic of the Philippines.”

Passage of the bill into law will also “counter the recent Chinese law allowing the Chinese Coast Guard to fire at perceived intruders in the entire South China Sea, which illegally includes our West Philippine Sea and a large part of our EEZ, from up north in Luzon to down south in the Palawan area.”