EITHER in-depth or in-debt friendship is binding Philippines and China, the surest thing is that the president cannot drive out the Chinese fishermen from Recto Bank, “because we’re friends”. The statement is not plain words that come out between the beard and mustache of the president but misconstrued as an administration policy. Granting that this policy is not acceptable to many, his mouthpiece anyway secretary Panelo afterwards can take it back.
The vital merits of a good father are to protect and provide food for his own household. The same expectation every Filipino holds when the trawling Chinese vessel rammed and abandoned a Filipino fishing boat on June 9, 2019. But even before the motive was determined the president quickly assessed that it was a mere maritime incident. Perhaps he does not want to stir the long troubled waters in the West Philippine Sea. But the initial assessment was not acceptable to many Filipinos whose hearts are not “made in China”. They were not easily appeased and forgot the ordeal of the 22 fishermen, crying for mercy in the open sea.
China’s 1.3 billion people and growing, has a crucial need of protein in its diet, so that Chinese fishermen go farther away from their coast as far as the Recto Bank where shrimp, tuna and scad are abundant. Recto Bank will always spark dispute, besides being a potential source of oil it is also one of the few areas in the world where steadily increased of catches was observed since 1950s. China’s claims of historical rights to this area ended with the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) ruling in July 12, 2016. In short, Recto Bank has been awarded as an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the Filipinos. SC Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on this matter warned that no government official can waive this sovereign right of the Filipino people without their consent.
President Rodrigo Duterte did not grant however but tolerate without conditions, at all times, the Chinese fishermen to harvest all they want in our EEZ. As a lawyer, the president is very much aware of the prohibitions under the laws: First, article 12 of the constitution says that the natural resources within the EEZ are exclusively for the benefits of the Filipinos only. Second, article 62 of the UNCLOS allows only other states to access the surplus through agreements and pursuant to the terms, conditions, laws and regulations of the convention. Third, by mere entering to the Philippine waters for fishing purposes is enough to penalize any foreign vessels under the Philippines’ Fisheries Code.
Anyhow, Secretary Salvador Panelo on Wednesday was sincere in his call to the Filipino people to trust and have faith that all actions of the president is in accordance to the constitution to protect the nation and serve the Filipino. There is business, so give goodwill. Let us give fish each day to keep troubles away.
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