A VIDEO documentary was released apparently showing China’s forces are back to their old bullying ways, harassing and driving Filipino fishermen away from the Scarborough Shoal.
In the documentary, two Filipino fishermen described how the Chinese Coast Guard would seize their catch and compel them to leave the area. They said that apart from the vessel that was blocking the entrance to the lagoon, there were eight other ships standing by to impede and drive them away.
The lives of these fishermen have been severely affected. Their previous catch of 20 tons of fish a day has been reduced to a mere two tons or less since the Chinese allegedly destroyed their small boats. Some boats would just sink after getting bombarded by water cannons.
Now, they have a lower income because many fish in the same area away from the shoal. Their poor children are forced to walk some two to three kilometers to school daily since their families could no longer afford to shell out fare money.
Recently, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo admitted that we could do nothing over the problem since China is in control of the area. We could only protest like any other claimant countries such as Vietnam.
It seemed Panelo remains doubtful of the video since he wanted the filmmakers to prove that the supposed harassment took place recently. He maintained that Chinese authorities were allowing Filipino fishermen to go near the shoal following talks with our officials. The shoal is located only 124 nautical miles away from Zambales.
China’s aggressive behavior is really nothing new especially now that it has increased the number of its vessels in the area. On Thursday, the military’s Western Command (Wescom) reported that since January, more than 600 Chinese vessels were spotted near Pag-asa Island, one of nine islets and shoals occupied by Filipinos. It appears that China is restricting the entry of our fishermen.
Is this the price of friendship with China that we, Filipinos, have to pay? Is government silence part of the interest on loans we took from China?
The government should make noise and get the support of the international community before China begins to build more artificial islands and continue to trespass into our territories.
Maybe it’s time to pay serious attention and not ignore the issue of China’s intrusion and continued abuse of our fishermen before things take a turn for the worse and get out of hand.
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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email [email protected] or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at http://www.tempo.com.ph/category/opinion/firing-line/
