DFA to China: Filipino fishermen free to fish in Ayungin

The Department of Foreign Affairs told China on Tuesday that Filipino fishermen, allegedly driven away by the Chinese coast guard from the Philippine-occupied Ayungin Shoal, have the right to fish in the area and "take whatever they are due" under Philippine and international law.

"Ayungin Shoal is part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines. The Philippines is entitled to exercise sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the area without any intervention from another country," a DFA statement said following the reported harassment of Filipino fishermen in Ayungin, also called Second Thomas Shoal, days after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s state visit to China.

In that visit, Marcos and his counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to establish a hotline between Manila and Beijing to prevent the escalation of tensions in the South China Sea and quickly resolve conflicts.

"Filipino fishermen are free to exercise their rights and take whatever they are due under Philippine and international law, particularly the 1982 UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award," the DFA said.

On Monday, Marcos told television journalists that the Philippine side had used the communication mechanism following the Ayungin incident.

"We have immediately used that thing, that mechanism that I talked about [with which] we can even immediately contact the Chinese government, and hopefully our counterparts on the other side can bring it to President Xi’s attention, this problem, and we have done that,” Marcos said.

“But it does not preclude us from continuing to make protests and continuing to send note verbale concerning this," he added.

In 2013, the Philippines challenged China’s legal basis for its vast claim in the South China Sea before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands. Manila won the case in a landmark award in 2016 after the tribunal invalidated Beijing’s assertions.

China has ignored and belittled the ruling, maintaining an "indisputable" and "historical" claim over nearly the entire waters even as it encroaches on the territories of its smaller neighbors like the Philippines.

For years, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan, and China have been locked in territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a vital sea lane where oil and natural gas have been discovered.

China has since beefed up its reclamation activities in other disputed areas and transformed previously submerged features into artificial islands with multi-level buildings and runways. It has also installed surface-to-air missiles in these areas, triggering concerns from countries such as the US, Japan, and Australia.

The DFA said it has yet to receive official reports from the military and law enforcement agencies on the China Coast Guard’s actions to force Filipino fishermen to leave the Ayungin Shoal last week.

The reports, it added, will serve as the basis for diplomatic action on the incident.

A Philippine Naval vessel—the BRP Sierra Madre—has been grounded at the Ayungin Shoal since 1999.

The shoal is 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan and falls within the Philippines' 200-nautical-mile continental shelf as provided under the UNCLOS.

"The department vigilantly monitors any developments in the West Philippine Sea, especially following the discussions between President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former’s state visit to China," the DFA said. —VBL, GMA Integrated News