Ex-Marine officer urges public to join protest trip vs. China aggression in WPS

A former Marine officer urged the public to join him in a trip around the country to inform Filipinos about China's aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

In an interview with reporters at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, former Marine Captain Nicanor Faeldon said the trip will begin in Batanes and will end in Recto Bank, where they will stay until a resolution on the territorial dispute will be made.

"We will go to all the provinces, kahit island provinces. In fact by Thursday, sasakay na sa barko papunta doon sa first destination niya sa Batanes," he said. "Batanes happens to be closest province to China, it’s the northernmost part, so doon mag-uumpisa then babalik sa mainland Luzon."

"While nag-iikot tayo, the objective is to inform as many people as we could doon sa problema sa Palawan, and solicit from them commitment to support the effort of the entire country doon sa usapin natin sa West Philippine Sea kasi hindi naman po kaya 'to ng gobyerno lang, it needs the participation of everyone, especially the civilians," he said.

Faeldon said aside from the waiting for the decision on the country’s arbitration case against China, civilians should make their presence known in the contested areas.

"Lets do some positive action to show resolve in protecting our property but it has to be of course non-violent and within the bounds of international law," he said.

Faeldon said he is hoping that by October, at least 82 fishing boats, one for each province, would join them in "making a presence" in Recto Bank.

"The intention is involve everyone so the objective is to get at least one fishing boat per province, that’s around," he said.

"Makikita niyo, it's just 80 natical miles from Palawan and ang laki nung nakasalalay doon, it's around 14 trillion pesos worth of natural gas and oil," he added. "We will guard this area, we are civilians but we will show them our resolve."

Faeldon said that they will go to the area unarmed.

"We will go there na nakabangka lang tayo but we will just have to show them our resolve, ipakita natin okay naka-de gyera kayo, kami bangka but this is ours e, bakit kayo pupunta dito, bakit kayo pupunta rito that’s why tayo magiikot e, we are trying to look for people and para magtulongtulong tayo," he explained.

Faeldon said they will stay in the area "as long as it takes."

"Halimbawa magkaroon na tayo ng final resolution," he added.

The Philippines has been locked in a territorial dispute with China over portions of the South China Sea.

China uses the “nine-dash line” to claim ownership of almost the entire South China Sea, while the Philippines uses the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as basis for its claim.

This is not the first time Faeldon arranged a "protest trip" in the West Philippine Sea.

Patriotic journey

This is not the first time Faeldon arranged a "patriotic journey" to the West Philippine Sea.

In 2012, the former Marine officer was to lead a group to undertake a “patriotic” journey to the disputed Panatag Shoal.

However, President Benigno Aquino III dissuaded Faeldon from going.

“If we can show our patriotism by supporting the position of the government, that would be sufficient expression of our patriotism,” said Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda

Faeldon said if the government had allowed them to go to Panatag Shoal, they could have prevented the Chinese government from taking over the area.

"We wanted to go to Scarborough Shoal [Panatag Shoal] but the government stopped us, but look at Scarborough now, nawala na 'yan sa atin, so kaya sila nakababa e," he said. "Kung hindi tayo umalis dun sa Scarborough, hindi sila nakababa dito sa Spratlys so I believe this is their target kaya nandito na sila." — Amanda Fernandez/BM, GMA News