CLARK FREEPORT – The fishers group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) said yesterday that the missing fishermen whose boat sank off the waters of Western Luzon last Nov. 7 could have sought refuge at the Scarborough shoal were it not for Chinese presence there.
Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said in a statement yesterday that “Scarborough Shoal could have offered safety for the fishermen victims… (as they) could have opted to seek refuge at the lagoon if not for the presence of Chinese vessels.”
Pamalakaya noted that Scarborough Shoal used to be “the traditional safe harbor for Filipino fishermen due to its calm condition amid turbulent weather.”
“This was a major reason Zambales fishermen braved the water cannon assault of Chinese Coast Guard in March 2014. As of end of October, it was occupied by at least four Chinese vessels, as reported by the oil tanker Green Aura, which was warned to keep 10-nautical miles away from Scarborough Shoal,” Hicap recalled.
He said “Chinese control of Scarborough Shoal is a strategic loss to Filipino fishermen, and now it spells disaster for those caught by big waves.”
Pamalakaya also urged the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to “expedite the search and rescue operations for the remaining 13 Filipino.
Of the 14 ill-fated fishermen, only Angelito Epito Jr. has so far been rescued after he was found in the seas of Subic, Zambales, still clinging to a styro debris for two days after their boat FFB Three Sisters was sunk by strong waves in the area of the shoal on their way back to their homeport in Barangay Sisiman in Marivales, Bataan.
“Authorities must expedite their search and rescue operations to find the missing fishermen for them to return to their families,” he said, even as he urged the government to provide for the needs of the missing fishermen’s families in the meantime.
Pamalakaya also issued a “demand” for the Duterte government “to retake control of the shoal in the name of national sovereignty, apart from the advantage it offers to fishermen.
