Verbal fishing deal with China lopsided, unconstitutional —Carpio

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio stood firm against entering into an agreement with China that will allow it to fish within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ), saying the Filipinos would be at the losing end.

In a statement, Carpio agreed with the statement of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin that there is no official policy giving the Chinese the rights to explore the country's EEZ such as the Reed Bank.

"Secretary Locsin knows that there is no recorded minutes of the so-called verbal agrrement between President Xi and President Duterte allowing the  Chinese to fish in Reed Bank in exchange for Filipinos fishing in Scarborough Shoal," he said.

"This verbal agreement, aside from being clearly against the Constitution, is so lopsided it should be rejected by the Philippine government," he added.

"Any such verbal agreement, if confirmed by the Philippine government, will bind the Philippines to allow the Chinese to fish in Reed Bank for as long as China allows Filipinos to fish in Scarborough Shoal," Carpio said.

According to Carpio, Reed Bank is within Philippine EEZ. Under the Constitution, the "use and enjoyment" of the fish and other natural resources within Philippine EEZ is "reserved exclusively for Filipinos."

Reed Bank is 8,660 sq. km in area, while Scarborough Shoal is only 150 sq. km in area. Filipinos can fish only outside the lagoon of Scarborough Shoal, not inside the lagoon which is the rich fishing area, Carpio said.

"China has the largest fishing fleet in the world with huge modern trawlers. The Filipinos only have wooden boats with outriggers.  The Chinese can deplete the fish in Reed Bank very quickly," he said.

Earlier, Locsin said the supposed verbal agreement with Chinese president Xi Jinping on fishing within Philippines EEZ cannot be implemented.

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." —LDF, GMA News