Fisher folk hold shoreline protest on 6th anniversary of Philippine arbitral win

A national fisher folk group staged a synchronized shoreline protest at the Laguna de Bay on Tuesday-July 12 in observance of the 6th anniversary of the Philippines’ arbitral win against China.

Around 30 fishing boats of the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) participated in the fluvial parade as they called on the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to uphold the landmark ruling invalidating Beijing’s expansive nine-dash claim over the South China Sea.

“Six years after our landmark victory, China won’t stop violating our fishing and sovereign rights in our traditional fishing grounds. No less than 600, 000 fisherfolks and fish workers are directly affected by Chinese aggression in the West Philippine Sea.” Ronnel Arambulo, PAMALAKAYA National Spokesperson, said during the protest.

Arambulo added that China was guilty of plundering the marine environment through its large-scale reclamation and poaching activities and violating the fishing rights of Filipino fishers in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Earlier, the fishers’ group challenged the Marcos administration to “strongly assert sovereign rights... using the arbitral award and break free from mendicant foreign policies that give leeway to China to carry out more aggressive actions in our waters”.

They emphasized that asserting the Philippines’ sovereignty over the territorial waters would be “more favorable to the country”, stressing that regaining control over it would be in the best interest of the Filipinos and small fisher folks.

“For starters, the Marcos administration could compel China to pay remuneration for the damaged reefs caused by its aggression and plunder, as well as make them pay back rent for the years of illegal occupation of sea features in our territory,” said PAMALAKAYA. “It will only take strong political will from a government that can stand for our territorial integrity and national sovereignty.”

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo, for his part, maintained that the 2016 arbitral ruling awarded by the Hague-based court to the country was final and could no longer be denied by anyone.

Manalo further stressed that the award upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its EEZ and affirmed that certain actions within the country’s territorial waters were unlawful. — DVM, GMA News