The Philippine government intends to remove the floating barriers installed by China in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough or Panatag Shoal) as it violates the rights of Filipino fishermen to earn a livelihood in the area while an investigation will be launched to verify the reported dumping of dead and crushed corals on a sandbar near Pag-asa (Thitu) Island in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Año said the planting of a floating barrier by China Coast Guard (CCG) and Chinese militia vessels in the southeast portion of Bajo de Masinloc or BDM has already reached President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
“We will take all appropriate actions to cause the removal of the barriers and to protect the rights of our fishermen in the area,” Año said on Monday, Sept. 25.
The NSA condemned China’s placement of the barrier as he emphasized that it violated the traditional fishing rights of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc. He said the rights of Filipino fishermen to conduct fishing activities in the shoal have already been affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling.
The landmark decision, which concluded that China “unlawfully prevented Filipino fishermen from engaging in traditional fishing at Scarborough Shoal” through the operation of its official vessels from May 2012 onwards, ruled in favor of the Philippines position in WPS and rejected China’s claims in the South China Sea.
“Any State that prevents them from doing artisanal fishing there violates UNCLOS [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea] and international law, in general,” Año stressed.
Bajo de Masinloc is located at 124 nautical miles west of Zambales and is within the 200 nautical-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.
“As part of our EEZ, we have maritime entitlement in those waters. Our fishermen should be free to fish there as they have been doing so for centuries already and it is clear in the 2016 Arbitral ruling,” said NSC Assistant Director General and National Task Force (NTF) for WPS spokesperson Jonathan Malaya.
“If we are to question the answer if we have the right to remove those barrier that China put up, the international law is clear as well as the UNCLOS: our country has the right to remove what the China Coast Guard planted there,” he added.
Crushed corals on Sandy Cay
Meanwhile, Malaya said that the government will also verify reports that crushed corals were dumped on Sandy Cay 2, a sandbar near Pagasa (Thitu) Island in Kalayaan Island Group (Spratly Islands).
“We must verify the circumstances and facts behind what happened here because we might againt be accused of making political drama out of fiction. To ensure the steps that we will take, the first thing that we must do is due diligence. We will investigate this and we will determine what really happened there,” he said.
Malaya said part of the investigation is to determine whether Sandy Cay 2 is being subjected to reclamation activities.
The development came a week after the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) bared the destruction of coral reefs in Rozul (Iroquios) Reef and Sabina (Escoda) Shoal in WPS, areas that were frequented by Chinese vessels months ago.
The Office of the Solicitor General said that it was planning to file a lawsuit against China before an international court because of the destruction of corals in the two WPS features.
China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning had called out the Philippines and told the government to “stop making political drama out of fiction.”
China’s response earned the ire of several officials, including Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. who called Beijing’s statements as “hypocritical” and PCG spokesperson for WPS Commodore Jay Tarriela who insisted that the Philippines was not making political drama as the destruction of marine environment is a “violent act” and “serious crime against humanity”.