Locsin: Duterte-Xi verbal fishing agreement cannot be enforced

President Rodrigo Duterte's supposed verbal agreement with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on fishing within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone cannot be implemented, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said Wednesday.

Locsin said Duterte may have been led to believe by his legal advisers that the Philippines can allow other countries to fish in its EEZ if there is an excess of the allowable catch as mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

"The verbal agreement cannot be enforced on us because it's verbal," Locsin said in an interview on ANC. "You need a document to prove an agreement. That's the way it is."

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles described the verbal deal as an “agreement to become good neighbors.”

“If there were verbal talks between state heads, those verbal talks unless it is formalized, written down and stated therein provision by provision, the terms and reference, the terms and conditions, then this is an agreement to come into an agreement,” Nograles told reporters.

“It’s an agreement to talk, to enter into bilateral talks, to enter into communication, to clarify things to continue bilateral meetings, cooperation, and coordination, but unless it is translated formally into writing, then it’s just an agreement to become good neighbors,” he added.

Locsin said that the informal pact between Duterte and Xi was “not policy” and the Philippines was not allowing China to fish within Manila’s EEZ.

He added that the informal pact between Duterte and Xi was “not policy” and the Philippines was not allowing China to fish within Manila’s EEZ.

“He (Duterte) may have been led to believe we had a surplus and he may have said sure, that's fine,” Locsin said.

The Cabinet official said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources can determine whether there is a surplus of the allowable catch.

Under the UNCLOS, nationals of other states fishing in the EEZ of a coastal state should comply with the conservation measures and with the other terms and conditions established in the laws and regulations of that country.

Last month's ramming of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel off Recto Bank in the disputed South China Sea triggered discussion on Philippine territory and its  rights over the natural resources within its EEZ, the 200-nautical mile area measured from the baselines that the country enjoys jurisdiction over. —Virgil Lopez/KBK/NB, GMA News