Pinoy fishers group vows to resist China coast guard law

Pamalakaya fisher folk group on Thursday vowed to appose the new Beijing law that allows China Coast Guard to shoot foreign vessels in disputed waters, including Manila-claimed West Philippine Sea area.

In a statement, Pamalakaya national chairperson Fernando Hicap also said Filipino fishers would also "garner" the support of "patriotic Pinoys" and solicit international solidarity support in opposing the China law, which it considers "severe."

“We attest that this severe measure would be met with a collective and strong defiance of the Filipino fisherfolks,” he said.

“We would garner vast support from the patriotic Filipinos, champions of national sovereignty, and international community to expose and resist China’s military expansionism and aggression in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.

China's new law allows its forces to “take all necessary measures, including the use of weapons when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals at sea.”

Some senators expressed alarm over China’s new coastguard law.

In a statement on Monday, Chinese Embassy in Manila said the new law complies with international law and denied claims that the measure was a threat of war.

Pamalakaya accused China of “making a fool out of the Filipinos and the international community” with its defense of the law.

“It is undeniably an open declaration of war against countries who challenge China’s illegal claim in nearly the entire South China Sea,” Hicap said.

“Only obsequious puppet administrations would believe and agree with China, as the latter has been already exposed in the global community as an aggressor who will use any means necessary, including military, to advance its geopolitical interest and agenda,” he added.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, and won the case in a landmark award in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Beijing’s claim it owns the South China Seas nearly in its entirety. 

Rejecting the ruling, China says its claims have historical basis and are “indisputable” despite encroaching on the territories of its smaller neighbors like the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

China has also claimed and developed some features in parts of the South China Sea, called the West Philippine Sea by Manila. —LBG, GMA News