Palace insists Scarborough situation better for Pinoy fishers now

Malacañang on Thursday insisted that the situation of Filipino fishermen in Scarborough Shoal is better under the Duterte administration even amid the country's territorial dispute with China.

At a press briefing, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque pointed out that unlike in the past, the fishermen can now go to Scarborough Shoal, locally known as Bajo de Masinloc, to fish without being harassed by Chinese authorities.

“Dati, hindi sila makapunta ng Bajo de Masinloc. Malaking bagay ho iyon [na nakakapunta na sila ngayon]. Bakit sila (Chinese) hindi gumagamit ng water cannon para itaboy kayo? Bakit di sila tinatakot at forcibly hinaharang?” Roque said.

(Before, they could not go to Bajo de Masinloc. So it is a big deal that that is not the case anymore. They are not being driven away with water cannons anymore.)

Roque chalked this up to the Philippine legal victory in the Permanent Court of Arbitration, China's promise not to conduct new reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea, and the country's warmer relations with China under the present administration.

In a press statement on Wednesday, fisherfolk group PAMALAKAYA said most Filipino fishermen could not go to Scarborough Shoal for their usual fishing activities because they fear that they will get harassed by Chinese vessels staying in the area.

Carlo Montehermozo, a fisherman from Pangasinan, has been reported as saying that Chinese coastguard personnel continue to turn them away from fishing in Scarborough shoal, a traditional fishing ground.

In a televised presidential debate in 2016, Montehermozo asked then-Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte and other candidates on what they could do for fishermen to peacefully fish in the country's territorial waters without being driven away by Chinese authorities.

Asked regarding China’s actions preventing Filipinos from fishing in Scarborough Shoal's lagoon, Roque said even the Chinese don't fish there.

"Walang nakakapasok sa lagoon, wala ring nakakapangisdang Tsino sa lagoon [no one can enter the lagoon, not even the Chinese]," he said. --KBK, GMA News