PH fishers pin hope on UN tribunal

WAITING FOR RULING A fisherman and his wife fix their nets next to a fishing fleet at the port in
Masinloc, Zambales province. A recent incident at the nearby Panatag Shoal is part of a long-running
territorial row between the Philippines and China, which sits at the heart of a UN-backed tribunal that is
expected to rule in the coming weeks. AFP

INFANTA, Zambales—Jonathan Almandrez was chased away from the rich fishing grounds of a South China Sea lagoon by a Chinese patrol, something he hopes will stop happening if the Philippines wins an international legal case against China.

The incident at Panatag Shoal, a necklace of reefs and rocks that Filipino fishermen say hosts some of the world’s most abundant marine life, is part of a long-running territorial dispute that sits at the heart of a United Nations-backed tribunal expected to rule in the coming weeks.

“I was angry at their gall to shoo us away when we were clearly inside Philippine territory,” said the 30-year-old fisherman, who used a pseudonym as he did not want to be identified for fear of potential Chinese repercussions.

Almandrez, who provided mobile phone footage of the encounter to Agence France-Presse (AFP), said that for two hours on June 7, Chinese Coast Guard patrol boats circled a wooden outrigger carrying 10 Filipino fishermen.

The patrol boats got within about 2 meters of the vessel, which had been fishing in the reefs just outside the shoal before daylight betrayed them to the Chinese.

“Transfer to another area! No fishing inside,” the Chinese coast guards shouted in English, according to Almandrez.

“You go (back) to China because this is the property of the Philippines,” he recalled shouting back.

The Filipino crew eventually left when a much larger Chinese vessel began to approach and they feared it would fire water cannon.

Video footage shows two patrol boats flying Chinese flags and with the English words “China Coast Guard” on the side.

China takes control

Local fishermen say Panatag Shoal, 230 kilometers off the main Philippine island of Luzon, has been their hunting ground for generations.

Internationally known as Scarborough Shoal, it is 650 kilometers from Hainan Island, the nearest major Chinese landmass, but falls within the ill-defined “nine-dash line” that marks the extent of Beijing’s claim to control of nearly all of the South China Sea.

The reefs and shallow waters mean one fisherman can easily spear 200 kilograms of fish in just over an hour, according to Almandrez and others from Infanta, one of the main Panatag Shoal fishing towns on Luzon.

It also provides vital shelter for stranded fishermen during storms.

China took effective control of the shoal in 2012, following a two-month standoff with the Philippine Navy and Filipino coast guards.

Ear-splitting blast

Since then, non-Chinese fishing boats approaching the lagoon mouth have routinely been given an ear-splitting horn blast from a ship stationed inside, and those who refuse to leave run the risk of being hosed down or even rammed, according to Filipino fishermen.

“The water spray was so strong it destroyed one of our styrofoams,” Felix Lavezores, 36, told AFP at Infanta, recalling an early May water-cannon attack at the lagoon mouth that split an ice box used to store their catch.

An expedition to the shoal costs around P90,000 per boat, including fuel, supplies and crew salaries—money the boat’s owners cannot make back if they are forced to hightail it home with an empty hold.

The Chinese at times also cut anchor cables, putting Filipino boats at risk of running aground, according to some of the Filipino fishermen at Infanta and Masinloc, another fishing town in Zambales province from which Panatag Shoal is administered, explaining the name Bajo Masinloc (Masinloc Shoal) by which Scarborough Shoal is also known.

‘Intrinsic territory’

China claims it has sovereign rights to nearly all of the South China Sea, even waters approaching the coasts of its Asian neighbors.

When asked about incidents at the shoal, foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying repeated China’s longstanding position.

“We have said that Scarborough Shoal is China’s intrinsic territory. The Chinese Coast Guard vessels’ law enforcement activities in China’s sovereign territorial waters are legitimate and beyond reproach,” Hua told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.

The competing territorial claims have for decades made the South China Sea a potential source of regional conflict, and tensions have risen sharply in recent years as China has sought to expand its presence in the disputed areas.

Aside from taking control of Panatag Shoal, it has undertaken unprecedented land reclamation in the Spratly Islands, one of the sea’s main archipelagos that are also claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Critics of China fear the artificial islands could be put to military use, and to establish effective sea and air control over some of the world’s most important shipping routes and waters that are believed to sit atop significant oil and gas deposits.

PH legal challenge

The Philippines, the most vocal critic, has responded by lodging a case with the Permanent Court of Arbitration, a UN-backed tribunal at The Hague, asking it to rule that China’s claims to most of the sea violate international law.

Although China is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it has vowed to ignore the ruling and accused the Philippines of stirring tensions with its legal challenge.

The Philippines hopes a favorable verdict will, at minimum, help build global diplomatic pressure on China.

But regardless of the outcome, China looks unlikely to let Philippine fishermen return to Panatag Shoal. AFP