West Philippine Sea, do you know where to defend it?
Amidst the on-going tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), assisted by hundreds of Chinese militia vessels and fishing trawlers, has intensified the conduct of more dangerous and more provocative maneuvers against the Philippine air and sea assets and personnel, as well as Filipino fishermen, in the area.
These harassments of the CCG are in blatant violation of the 2016 arbitral decision of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which discredited the People’s Republic of China’s claim over almost all of South China Sea. The Convention’s Tribunal affirmed the sovereign rights of the Philippines over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf which is the West Philippine Sea.
Unfortunately, during the recent Kongreso ng mga Mangingisda para sa Kapayapaan at Kaunlaran held in Subic, Zambales, none of the 150 fishermen know the difference between the West Philippine Sea and South China Sea, and where is West Philippine Sea can be found. And it could be assumed that only a handful Filipinos can give a correct answer.
While most Filipinos wrongly refer the name West Philippine Sea as substitute for South China Sea, the former refers only to the boundaries extending to 200 nautical miles (321.87 kilometers) from the shoreline, which we know as Philippine’s EEZ. This was the substance of the Administrative Order No. 29 which then President Benigno Aquino III issued on September 12, 2012 designating the maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago and within the Philippine EEZ as the West Philippine Sea.
The traditional Filipino fishing ground Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc is merely 120 miles (193 km) from Zambales, and is clearly inside the Philippine EEZ. The Spratly Islands or the Kalayaan Island Group is merely 30 nautical miles (48.28 Km) off Palawan, against more than 400 NM (643.7376 Km) from the nearest land in China.
To this situation, it is necessary to first educate the Filipino people on the issues of WPS; and at the same time, listen to their concerns and recommendations to better serve them by the government.
As National Security Council Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya explained, the government’s priority today is to respond to the needs of the fishermen in the WPS, while the Marcos administration is asserting the Philippine rights and sovereignty over the territory.
Hear’s to Watch.
The Philippine Coast Guard assured that they will provide escort and assistance to fishermen in the Scarborough Shoal, and to BFAR ships deployed to ensure safety of the Filipinos in the area.
The Army and Navy signified their readiness, too.
But for the fishermen, the questions remain: until when the Philippine West Sea be free from Chinese “occupants’ and aggressors? How long our fishermen can freely catch fish in our own fishing ground without being harassed and shooed away by the foreign intruders? How many more Filipinos should lose their fingers due to greed of space? And lastly, are we, common Filipinos, willing to defend our ground against the giant army?.
