Gov’t must protect fisherfolk in West Philippine Sea —Hontiveros

The Philippine government must protect its fisherfolk and assert their rights to fish in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Senator Risa Hontiveros said on Tuesday.

On Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte said “there’s not enough fish to quarrel about” in the disputed waters, and he would only send the country's few warships when China started drilling for oil and other precious resources in the bowels of the region.

“Nakakalimutan ata niya na Presidente siya ng Pilipinas. May responsibilidad siyang depensahan at ipagtanggol ang mga Pilipino, at kasama na dito ang ating mga mangingisda na nakadepende sa West Philippine Sea para sa kanilang kabuhayan,” Hontiveros said.

(He might have forgotten that he is the president of the Philippines. He has the responsibility to defend and protect the Filipinos, including the fishermen who depend on the resources in the West Philippine Sea.)

If the most powerful government official cannot stand with Filipino fishermen, Hontiveros said they will be more prone to China’s abuse.

“Ang mga mangingisda natin mismo ang nagsabi na halos wala na silang huli dahil sa presensiya ng mga barko ng Tsina. Minsan hinaharangan, minsan tinataboy pa,” she said.

(The fisherfolks themselves said they cannot harvest because of the presence of Chinese vessels. Sometimes they were barred from fishing or were asked to leave the area.)

“Sadyang kinakalimutan din ata ng Presidente na atin nga ang WPS, kaya tayo ang may karapatang mangisda diyan. Nakakalungkot at nakakagalit na kailangan pa itong ipaalala sa kanya,” Hontiveros said.

(He might have completely forgotten that the WPS is ours, that’s why we have the right to fish there. It is saddening and enraging that we need to remind him of this.)

In the same public address, Duterte said nothing will happen even if he sailed to WPS because the Philippines sis “not in the possession of the sea.”

Tension between the Philippines and China rose anew because of the presence of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef.  The Philippines has filed a series of diplomatic protest on this incident.

Last week, the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported its patrols have spotted at least six Chinese warships and 240 Chinese militia vessels scattered in the territorial waters off Kalayaan in Palawan and in the Philippines exclusive economic zone.

NTF-WPS also estimated that the continued presence of Chinese fishing vessels could catch one ton of fish amounts to a conservative total of 240,000 kilograms of fish illegally taken from Philippine waters.—Hana Bordey/LDF, GMA News