THE National Security Council (NSC) yesterday said Philippines will not succumb to China’s scare tactics, adding Filipinos will continue to sail and fish in the West Philippine Sea despite Beijing’s reported impending implementation of new regulations that will authorize its coast guard to detain foreigners crossing its borders, including in the South China Sea.
In a press briefing, NSC Assistant Director General and National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea spokesman Jonathan Malaya urged Filipino fishermen to continue fishing in the disputed area, assuring them of government protection.
Malaya said the new Chinese regulations are against international law, specifically the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the United Nations charter.
He said China has no sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea and “therefore has no right to arrest, detain or expel any person” from the area.
“These regulations cannot apply to the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of coastal states like Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia or the Philippines or any country for that matter,” he said.
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines are claiming parts of the South China Sea while China is claiming almost the entire sea.
The new regulations, which were reportedly adopted on May 15 and set to take effect on June 15, was announced last week by the South China Morning Post. No statement has been released by the Chinese Embassy in Manila.
Malaya noted that the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration nullified China’s excessive claim in the South China Sea, and recognized the Philippines’ rights to its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone provided under UNCLOS.
Malaya said the new regulation is “nothing more than part of China’s scare tactics to intimidate and coerce its ASEAN neighbors.”
“It’s provocative, escalatory and increases the tension in the South China Sea. The Philippines will not be intimidated or coerced by the Chinese Coast Guard. We will never succumb to this scare tactics,” he said.
“The Philippines will continue to sail and fish in these waters and we call on all maritime states particularly our neighbors like Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia to ignore these illegal regulations and sail in these waters to the extent that international law allows,” he added.
By continuously sailing and fishing in these waters, Malaya said “we register our strong objections to the illegal regulations which clearly infringes on the rights of other states.”
Malaya said the government will not allow China to enforce these regulations which will reportedly be effected on June 15.
“If they (Chinese) will enforce that, the (Philippine) government will protect our fishermen,” said Malaya, noting the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy vessels are continuously conducting patrols in the South China Sea.
“We would increase the presence of our assets as much as we can so that if there will be incidents of harassment against our fishermen and there will be attempts to arrest or detain our countrymen, we can prevent it through our Philippine Coast Guard,” added Malaya.
NO LEGAL EFFECT
Malaya said the Philippines will continue to fish in the West Philippine Sea, stressing it is part of the country’s EEZ.
He said the new regulations are meant “more to scare us so the Philippines will be intimidated and coerced to back down.”
“Our response is we will not be intimidated, we will not be coerced and we will continue to fish in those waters because this is part of our exclusive economic zone, therefore we have the right to fish,” he said.
“Now, on how it’s going to play out, I really do not know because as far as we are concerned right now, it has no bearing, it has no legal effect on us,” said Malaya.
“We will just do our thing, the way we’ve been doing it. We will not be coerced or intimidated by this new Coast Guard regulations,” he also said.
Malaya told Filipino fishermen not to be affected by the Chinese regulations.
“They have no right to prevent you from fishing inside our exclusive economic zone. Continue fishing in the West Philippine Sea,” he said adding the fishermen are supported by law.
“Also, the government is behind you. And the Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy are there to help you if there will be incidents in the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
CONDEMNATION
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri called on claimant countries to band together in opposing the new regulations which he said are illegal under UNCLOS.
He said UNCLOS allows for free and open access to all sea vessels passing through South China Sea and in areas which are within the Philippines’ EEZ.
He said implementing such regulation will only further escalate tension in the region since the Philippine Coast Guard will surely defend Filipinos who will be arrested by the Chinese Coast Guard once they reach areas of the WPS claimed by Beijing.
Zubiri said the international community will condemn China once it detains foreigners perceived as trespassers.
“The whole world will condemn these actions, unilateral actions of China. I think we should show the whole world that we feel about this,” he added.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
During the press briefing, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela presented pictures and videos of what he said were China’s illegal fishing activities at Scarborough Shoal, about 124 nautical miles from Zambales.
China gained control of the shoal, also known as Bajo de Masinloc and Panatag Shoal, in 2012 after a standoff with Philippine government vessels. Since then, the Chinese have prevented Filipinos from fishing inside the shoal’s lagoon.
The videos and pictures were taken from 2016 to 2022. They showed the Chinese gathering endangered giant clams and sea turtles. It also showed destruction of the marine environment in the area.
Tarriela said China’s harvesting of giant clams was discussed in the 2016 PCA ruling. He said Chinese fishermen harvested giant clams in Scarborough until 2019.
Tarriela said he presented the videos and pictures only now in line in line with the Marcos administration’s transparency initiative or exposing China’s illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea.
“The last time we saw Chinese fishermen doing giant clam harvesting was in 2019… After 2019, we no longer documented Chinese fishermen harvesting giant clams because there are no longer giant clams to harvest in the first place,” he said.
INTERNATIONAL SCRUTINY
Malaya said it was unfortunate that Chinese fishermen, who he said are tolerated by their government, are engaged in “environment destruction” in Scarborough Shoal.
Malaya said he is certain that the Chinese government will deny involvement in the destruction of marine resources at the shoal.
“In order for the world to find out if China indeed has fulfilled its obligations under international law, let us open Bajo de Masinloc to international scrutiny,” he said.
Malaya said third party environmental groups or UN may conduct the fact-finding mission “to determine the environmental situation in the Bajo de Masinloc.”
“As clearly shown by the Philippine Coast Guard, we have definitive proof of environmental destruction and degradation inside Bajo de Masinloc,” he said.
“Now if China refuses to acknowledge this, the only way to really determine what really happened there is to open up Bajo de Masinloc to international scrutiny. So that is our challenge to China. If it considers itself as a protector of the environment, they should open up Bajo de Masinloc to international observers,” he added.
Malaya said the Philippine government is “alarmed and worried” over the situation of marine environment in Scarborough Shoal.
Tarriela said the government is collecting more evidence to prove China’s illegal activities in the area for the filing of another case against China.
Malaya said the initial evidence is being assessed by the Department of Justice.
“There is a certain consensus within the government that we may need to file a case. But at the end of the day, it’s the legal authorities who will decide because it will depend on the gravity of the evidence, because we will not go to court if we will not win,” said Malaya.
Tarriela, on reports about the installation of pipes at the shoal’s lagoon, said this is subject to validation.
“Our Coast Guard operatives have not confirmed it yet, the presence of such pipes. But definitely we are looking into it,” he said. — With Raymond Africa
