CLARK FREEPORT – Hundreds of fi shermen in the coastal towns of Zambales who used to be on friendly terms with Chinese fishers at the Scarborough Shoal a year ago have already been cowered by the presence of armed Chinese in the area, Zambales officials said yesterday.
In an interview during the national program for municipal fisherfolk registration of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) here yesterday, Masinloc Mayor Desiree Edora said some fishers in her town reported being barred by armed Chinese on big vessels in the shoal being claimed by Beijing.
Candelaria Mayor Napoleon Edquid said he had heard of such reports, but could not confirm it. He said some
300 small fishers in his town have been avoiding Scarborough amid reports of Chinese presence there.
For his part, Palauig Mayor Generoso Amog said about 300 small fishers in his town have also been adversely affected by the territorial controversy at the shoal which, in a resolution passed by his town’s board last year, was asserted as part of his town.
Edora said “less than a hundred” fi shers in her town no longer venture into the shoal. “Before the territorial
standoff happened in April last year, our fishers would stay in the seas of Scarborough to fish over several days, and would just have their catch fetched from their boats to be brought to land so they could stay on in the
seas to fish some more,” she recalled.
She also said that Chinese fishers were also then common in the shoal and that Filipino fishermen had already
been on friendly terms with them. “They would even barter goods for their needs while on the high seas,” she said.
But Edora said that local fi shers have stayed within municipal waters since Chinese boats with armed men started to warn them against going to the shoal. She said the Chinese men with long firearms would signal for them to stay off.
They said, however, that the BFAR and various non-government organizations have since helped the displaced
fisherfolk find alternative source of livelihood. Edora said that more fishers now use their boats for commercial
transport of people living in islands, or for tourists.
The three mayors also said that Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane has started providing the fishers with the so-called
“payao,” a mechanism that attracts more fish to areas nearer the coastline to boost the catch of the local fishers.
“Those who are still into fi shing report 50 percent decline in their catch within municipal waters, as compared to
their catch at the Scarborough,” Edora said.
Palauig and Masinloc both claim that the Scarborough area is located within their territories, but Edora and Amog said they were not about to complicate the territorial dispute with China over the shoal.
“We both claim the area, but there is no serious confl ict here. As a matter of fact, we joke each other about our claims issue,” Edora said. The shoal, however, is known locally as Bajo de Masinloc
