A written document allowing Chinese fishermen to fish in the West Philippine Sea is no longer needed because President Duterte’s verbal agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping is already enough, according to the country’s top Defense official.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the West Philippine Sea and some areas around the basin of the South China Sea have always been a traditional fishing ground. The West Philippine Sea lies within the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in the South China Sea.
“I don’t think there is a work or drafting of agreement to allow other countries to fish there but the President said that area has always been a traditional fishing ground of so many people around the region, around the South China Sea basin. Hindi na siguro kailangan pa ng written agreement dyan,” Lorenzana said.
“Itong Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Chinese, Japanese, even Koreans, and Filipinos, Malaysians, and Indonesians – they can also fish because they have always been there,” he added.
However, the Defense chief stressed that the West Philippine Sea “is ours” and the Philippine government can permit other countries to fish in the area, which in this case, was done by the President through a verbal agreement with Xi.
“Atin ‘yan pero we can allow them to fish,” he stated.
Meanwhile, the Senate said yesterday it cannot act on the verbal fishing agreement between Duterte and Xi because it has not been put on paper and submitted to them.
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio had said that the Senate should ratify the verbal pact allowing China to fish in the EEZ. Carpio said the deal was an “international agreement” that needed the concurrence of the Senate.
“How can we ratify something that has not been transmitted to the Senate?” Senate President Vicente Sotto III said.
The Senate chief said that the Senate cannot ratify or repudiate treaties motu propio. He pointed out that the Executive department has to submit such agreements before they can act on them. (Vanne Terrazola and Martin Sadongdong)
