Protest vs. China over seizure of Filipino fisherfolk's equipment won't affect Philippines' access to China vaccines -Palace

The Duterte administration is confident that the diplomatic protest it filed against China over the Chinese coastguard’s seizure of Filipino fishermen’s equipment won’t get in the way of Manila’s access to Chinese-made vaccines against COVID-19, the Palace said Friday.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. was referring to the protest filed on Thursday over the incident last May when the Chinese Coastguard took away the Filipino fisherfolk’s equipment locally called payao in Scarborough shoal.

Scarborough shoal, which is just 124 nautical miles off the nearest Philippine landmass of Palawan, has been declared a common fishing ground by the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration in a July 2016 ruling—the same ruling that outlawed Chinese aggression against Filipino fisherfolk in the area.

“Hindi naman po [makakapaekto ito] no. ‘Yang mga protests naman, ginagawa talaga yan ng ating mga diplomats kung meron sa tingin natin na lalalabag sa ating soberenya o doon sa ating tinatawag natin sovereign rights,” Roque said in an interview over state-run PTV 4.

“Pero hindi naman po makakaapekto doon sa kabuuan ng ating matalik na pagsasamahan sa panig ng bansa natin at ng bansang Tsina,” Roque added.

Last August 17, President Rodrigo Duterte thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jingping for offering to give vaccines to the Philippines once they are produced, although such vaccines will not be for free.

In protesting the Chinese’s actions, the Department of Foreign Affairs tagged such seizure as illegal.

Likewise, the DFA said that the Philippines "also resolutely objected to China’s continuing illicit issuances of radio challenges Philippine aircraft conducting legitimate regular maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea.”

Aside from deeming the Scarborough shoal as a common fishing ground, the July 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling also rejected China’s expansive nine-dash line claim of the South China Sea and declared the Spratly Islands, Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank as all within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The ruling came around three years after the Philippines sued China before the Arbitration court over repeated aggression within the Philippines’ EEZ.

China, however, refused to participate in the proceedings and has not recognized this ruling. -MDM, GMA News