ANGELES CITY – The fisherfolk alliance Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) appealed yesterday to the Chinese government to “refrain from harassing Filipino fishermen returning to Scarborough Shoal to catch fish.”
Pamalakaya National Chairperson Fernando Hicap said his group has sent a letter to China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao whom he asked “to instruct Chinese naval patrol forces currently deployed in Scarborough Shoal to cease and desist from scaring or terrorizing the Filipino fishermen” in the area some 220 kilometers west of Zambales shores. “Our fisherfolk are asserting their sovereign rights and livelihood rights.
The Beijing government should recognize and respect our fishermen asserting these political and sovereign rights over Scarborough Shoal,” the letter said.
Hicap, who is also vice chairperson of the Anakpawis party list, “reminded” Jiabao that his group’s request was in behalf of “small Filipino fisherfolk” and “should merit the full recognition of the Beijing government.”
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has reported that Filipino fishermen have returned to Panatag Shoal, sharing the disputed waters with Chinese fisherfolk under the watch of both Philippine and Chinese maritime ships.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara, chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) reported that six Filipino fishing boats were anchored on Sunday in the lagoon in the middle of a cluster of reefs and islands in the area.
Hicap noted “this was the first time the Philippine military reported the presence of Filipino fishermen in the area since the standoff began on April 10 when two Chinese surveillance ships stopped the Philippine Navy from accompanying eight Chinese fishing boats loaded with poached marine species.”
Earlier, Pamalakaya said some 200,000 small scale fishermen could be displaced by the continuing conflict at the Scarborough shoal.
“We take pride in congratulating our fisherfolk colleagues for asserting the country’s sovereign rights and territorial integrity. As far as we are concerned, our fishing peers are the ones who champion the cause of national sovereignty and territorial integrity and not the Manila government,” Hicap said.
He said Filipino fishermen “will persist in fishing at Panatag Shoal because they believe it is part of the country’s territorial waters.”
“If the Manila government believes Panatag Shoal is our territory, then there is no reason why it should discourage small fishermen from exercising their sovereign rights over this productive and rich fishing area,” he said.
Hicap also said that the government seems “engaged in an anti-China scare campaign to justify the near future deployment of US troops in West Philippine Sea at the expense of Filipino people.”
He lamented reports that foreign affairs and fishery officials have been advising fishermen not to get near Scarborough Shoal purportedly for their own safety and to avoid escalation of the current tension between Chinese and Filipino military naval forces in the area.
Two weeks ago, Pamalakaya had filed a “diplomatic protest” against China “for employing dirty politics, sheer arrogance and political bullying against the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal issue.”
In a protest letter addressed to China’s envoy to the Philippines Ambassador Ma Keqiing, the militant group condemned “the perpetual arrogance and political bullying of China despite repeated calls from the Filipino people to ease the political tension.”
“Madam Ambassador, the display of Chinese military might in Scarborough Shoal and the scene scaring small Filipino fisherfolk sourcing their livelihood from the productive fishing area through the use of battle ready warships and psywar flying aircrafts is something that we cannot stomach and accept,” said Pamalakaya in its protest letter.
It said “the Filipino fisherfolk join the entire nation in asserting the people’s sovereign rights on Scarborough Shoal and parts of the Spratly regime of island belong to the Philippine territory.”
