THE Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said Filipino fishermen have the right to fish at the Ayungin Shoal because the area is part of the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The department made the statement amid controversy generated by the latest incident of harassment of Filipino fishermen plying their trade in the area, by the Chinese Coast Guard which has maintained a presence in the waters surrounding the shoal for several years now.
“Ayungin Shoal is part of the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf of the Philippines. The Philippines is entitled to exercise sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the area without any intervention from another country,” the DFA statement said following the January 9 incident.
“Filipino fishermen are free to exercise their rights and take whatever they are due under Philippine and international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the final and binding 2016 Arbitral Award,” it also said.
The DFA was referring to the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration junking China’s massive claims in the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines as the West Philippine Sea, under its so-called nine dash line theory.
The shoal is 105.77 nautical miles from Palawan and falls within the Philippines’ EEZ under the UNCLOS.
The DFA, however, said it was still waiting for official reports from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on the harassment incident in Ayungin Shoal.
The reports, the department added, would be used as basis to determine its next course of action, including the possible filing of diplomatic protest against Beijing.
The PCG on Saturday said it was investigating the Ayungin Shoal incident.
The DFA assured the public it “vigilantly monitors” any development in the West Philippine Sea, “especially following the discussions between President Ferdinand R.Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the former’s state visit to China.”
Filipino fishermen on board fishing boat Ken-Ken reported to the local coast guard station in Zambales that a Chinese Coast Guard vessel drove them away while fishing in the vicinity of Ayungin Shoal on January 9.
The Chinese coast guard ship, they said, even deployed a rigid hull inflatable boat to drive them away from the area.
The Filipino fishermen then left the area, with the Chinese coast guard vessel shadowing them.
The incident took place only four days after Marcos said Xi promised that Filipino fishermen will not be barred from fishing in the disputed waters.
Marcos has also announced that a direct communications line between the DFA and the Chinese Foreign Ministry will be set up to prevent miscommunication related to the West Philippine Sea.
Earlier, Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz said the recent state visit of Marcos to China will help lessen tension in the West Philippine Sea amid competing claims by Manila and Beijing.
In December, the DFA said it is “seriously concerned” about China’s reported reclamation activities on several unoccupied reefs in the disputed waters.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila has denied media reports on the issue, calling it “fake news.”
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, although the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, and Malaysia have overlapping claims.
China refuses to recognize the 2016 ruling of the arbitral tribunal and insisted on bilateral talks to address the dispute.
The DFA said it has lodged 193 notes verbales with China protesting its aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea since January 2022.
A note verbale is a diplomatic note that is more formal than an aide-memoire, is drafted in the third person, and is never signed, while a diplomatic protest is in the nature of a complaint and usually expresses dissatisfaction with an official action or policy of the government to which it is addressed.
