Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
More than to national security, the dispute between Manila and Beijing in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) poses a threat to the country’s food security, Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said on Thursday.
Recto warned that if the world would allow China to put up a “no fishing” sign around the disputed territory, it would “starve” Filipinos of a staple in their diet – fish.
“It will hit us where it hurts most – our stomach,” he said in a statement. “There lies the greatest danger of Chinese incursion in our territory. It’s a formula for starvation. More than a national security question, it involves food security.”
“This is the reason why, regardless of our politics, whoever our bet for 2016 is, we should unite in support of our Philippine delegation to The Hague,” he said.
The Arbitral Tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration is presently hearing the Philippines’ complaint against China’s alleged excessive territorial claims at the Peace Palace at The Hague, Netherlands.
Recto suspected that China’s push into Philippine waters was motivated in part to secure rich fishing grounds to satisfy Chinese appetite for marine produce.
“It’s a market of 1.360 billion people, each eating 31 kilos of fish each year,” he said.
“Ang West Philippine Sea ay kasama sa Coral Triangle, one of richest fishing grounds in the world, kaya sino ba naman ang hindi maeenganyo?” (Who will not be tempted?) Recto said.
Encompassing 5.7-million square kilometers of ocean in six countries, the Coral Triangle supports the sustenance of 120 million people who earn $6 billion a year in fishery exports and tourism.
In all, Recto said Philippine fisheries produced P244 billion worth of fish in 2013 – P93.7 billion from aquaculture, P80.9 billion from municipal fishermen, P69.9 billion from commercial fishers – or about 2 percent of the GDP
If China would succeed in making the West Philippine Sea its exclusive fishpond, the senator said it would not only lead to the “disappearance of a large chunk of space from our territory, but also fish from our table.”
“So this is not just a battle about cartography but about calories. What we’re stopping is a Made-in-China food shortage,” he said, pointing out the annual per capita consumption of fish and marine produce in the Philippines is about 36 kilos.
Of the 4.705 million metric tons (MT) of fish caught in 2013, Recto said commercial fishers contributed 1.067 million MT, while municipal fishermen added 1.264 million MT. The rest, or 2.374 million MT, was raised through aquaculture.
By one estimate, more than three-fourths of total commercial and municipal fishing production came from the West Philippine Sea, the senator said.
Recto said the value of what commercial and municipal fishermen produced in 2013 was about P150 billion.
“Put another way, it is a P410-million a day industry,” he said.
“Ipagpalagay mo na lang na kalahati ay galing sa West Philippine Sea, eh di P200 milyon ang mawawala sa atin araw-araw pag naglagay ang China ng ‘Do not enter’ sign sa Spratlys, sa Baja de Masinloc. Pati dagat sa tapat ng Ilocos inaangkin na rin nila,” he pointed out.