ANGELES CITY- A militant fishers’ group sent yesterday a letter to US Pres. Barrack Obama a “letter of protest” over the alleged “wholesale and flagrant violations of the Philippine sovereignty and the collective sovereign rights of the nearly 100 million Filipinos” in the case of the US ship that ran aground at the Tubbataha reef.
“Mr. President, what is also lamentable is the extreme political arrogance displayed by US military officials under the Asia-Pacific Command,” said the letter sent by the Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) through the address “The White House, 1600 Pennysylvania Avenue, Washington DC.”
Pamalakaya noted that “US authorities even prevented Philippine authorities from inspecting the USS Guardian, as if Tubbataha Reef and the entire archipelago are within the territory of America outside mainland USA.”
“Mr. President, the US government is highly accountable on the incident that goes beyond the issue of environmental disaster in Tubbataha Reef. In fact, the incident displayed serious manifestations of Washington D.C’s wholesale and flagrant violations of the Philippine sovereignty and the collective sovereign rights of the nearly 100 million Filipinos,” the letter said.
Pamalakaya said “whether the US government denies it or not, the 224-foot US Navy minesweeper had illegally entered the protected seascape and natural park (within Philippine territory).”
Noting that the Tubbataha Reef is a heritage site as proclaimed by the UNESCO, Pamalakaya noted that “even the one-sided and anti-Filipino people Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) does not even allow US forces and warships to enter the site because it is a protected reef park and should be spared from conduct of any American military campaign.”
Pamalakaya expressed fears over possible “huge and lifetime negative impact this incident could bring to marine environment and to hundreds of thousands of small fishermen in affected areas namely the Sulu Sea, the waters of Panay Island and Visayan Sea and the waters of Region IV-A.”
The fishers’ alliance, reputed to be the biggest fishermen’s alliance in the country, urged “the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and the time warped Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippine government.”
“The US government has been violating the sovereign rights of the Filipino people through these military agreements with the Manila government,” the group said.
Pamalakaya also urged “the immediate pull-out of all US warships, aircraft and troops currently stationed in the Philippines on rotation basis to make sure incident like what happened in Tubbataha won’t have a repeat in the near and strategic future.”
It also urged “the immediate payment of damage compensation to be determined by an independent group of experts.”
“The US government should pay the necessary and appropriately determined amount in local or dollar currency for the rehabilitation of Tubbataha Reef Natural Park,” it added.
The letter was signed by Pamalakaya leader Salvador France.
