“Uphold our Rights to OUR SEA”

The continuous claims of China to the West Philippine Sea or “South China Sea is
starting to get more aggressive. After the Philippines won the arbitration last July 2016, it
seemed that China, up to this present time is still insisting their rights in the sea. Philippines has
exclusive sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (in the South China Sea) and that
China’s “nine-dash line” is invalid, according to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Therefore, we should`ve been living in peace right now because we are the rightful owner of that
territory, of the West Philippine Sea, but how is it that we are still in great danger of being
terrorized of the so called “One of the most Powerful Country” in the world? President Rodrigo
Duterte, on his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, July 22, emphasized that
pushing the country`s sovereign rights in the West Philippine Sea would just lead to a war and
that the “fishing deal” with the Chinese is legal. As what he had promised, Duterte dedicated a
portion of his SONA to the issue about the illegal claims of China to the West Philippine Sea.
It has been a very controversial issue when the Chinese fishermen started to move below the belt
after our government allowed them to fish in the Philippine waters. Last June 12, Independence
Day, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that a Chinese vessel rammed and partially sank a
fishing boat of our Filipino fishermen near midnight of June 9. Fortunately, there were
Vietnamese fishermen who came to help after the Filipino crew was left stranded in an open sea,
without even receiving any help from the Philippine Government. Lorenzana also stated that the
it took full 5 days before Duterte could finally speak about the issue publicly. The president
described this as a “little maritime accident” and it is a usual event to happen to our boats eerily
echoing the Chinese foreign ministry’s claim it was “an ordinary maritime traffic accident.” The
President stated on Monday, that we do not have the position to assert our rights on the West
Philippine Sea because China is in “Possession” of it. This statement was wronged by the
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio. “China is not in possession of the WPS.
China is in possession of 7 features in the Spratlys plus Scarborough Shoal. In addition, during
the Duterte administration, China seized Sandy Cay from the Philippines. The total area of these
geologic features, including their territorial seas (if any), is less than 7% of the WPS,” Carpio
said in a statement sent to reporters after the SONA on July 22. Kagitingan (Fiery Cross),
Calderon (Cuarteron), Mabini (Johnson South), Zamora (Subi), McKennan (Hughes),
Panganiban (Mischief), and Burgos (Gaven) are the following reefs in the West Philippine Sea
that China has reclaimed and there built military installations as part of their possessions. Based
on the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS), these islands were declared
as part of Philippines` 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) through the issuance
of the arbitral award to the country. Duterte also justified his permission to allow Chinese vessels
to fish freely in the West Philippine Sea stating that UNCLOS also agreed to it. Moreover, he
emphasized that UNCLOS allows for fishing agreements among sovereign states, and recognizes
traditional fishing rights of the natives. Traditional fishing applies only in the territorial sea and
archipelagic waters. There is no traditional fishing in the EEZ. This is very clear in the arbitral
award of 12 July 2016. Reed Bank is part of Philippine EEZ. There can be no traditional fishing
in Reed Bank,” says Carpio after he refuted the statement of Duterte, bringing up the issue on the
justification of the fishing vessels of our Filipino fishermen last June 9 who reportedly was
abandoned without receiving any assistance from the PH government.

Data show that fisherfolks are the most highly vulnerable and poorest people in our
economy. Despite a reduction in poverty incidence from 2006, about one in 3 fishermen is still
considered poor as of 2015. It is very saddening, to hear that aside from the poverty that our
fishermen experience they were also getting “bullied” and pushed away from the West Philippine
Sea wherein they get their resources as their source of living. It is not just about territorial issues
anymore but economical and somehow could affect a lot of aspects more than these. A recent
study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies also found that fisherfolk are among
the most economically “vulnerable”; that is, likely to fall into poverty in the future. Being
vulnerable in the fishing industry is the cause of overfishing. The accessibility of fishing grounds
is the cause why a lot of fisherfolks overfish, thus causes the rapid depletion of fish stocks. The
said incident of China`s aggressive stance to the Filipino fishermen caused the Philippines to win
the arbitral tribunal at The Hague. The Chinese also caused permanent damage and catastrophe
to the natural resources and marine ecosystem at the West Philippine Sea. They also built
artificial islands that makes our coral reefs dredged. These coral reefs take millions of years to be
built and it was just destroyed by the Chinese in a couple of years. Withal the conflicts between
China and the Philippines, it caused our fishermen to forcefully get out of their traditional fishing
grounds. It aggregated the livelihood of the fishermen, their family and the economy. In
Zambales, a lot of fishermen were forced to shift to land-based jobs, like security guards and
some just retired early. However, the attack of China to the Gem-Ver fishing vessel of the
Philippines carries 3 metric tons of fish. Their catch went bad and sank as the vessel was hit by
the Chinese, amounting to a total of 1 million pesos. Including the damage, boat repairs and lost
supplies the total amount of destruction to the owner and crew is about 2.2 million pesos. China
causes catastrophic damages to the country. To wit, they were over-abusing the power that the
Philippine government has given unto them. The agreement was a “fishing deal” but how come
that it also affects the economy of the Philippines? How come that it affects the fishermen? How
come that it causes destruction to maritime ecology of the West Philippine Sea? In the first place,
we are just making them share our resources because our government allowed them to, but they
are having aggressive stances that makes us all in trouble.

Nevertheless, the EEZ or the Exclusive Economic Zone that we have in the West
Philippine Sea is reserved exclusively for the Filipinos. The agreement between Duterte and the
President of China Xi Jinping is therefore illegal, null and void because no presidential
agreement could override the explicit constitutional mandate. With Duterte`s unending reasons of
war threats from China having it as the cause why he`s allowing the Chinese to share with our
resources is also considered as null and void because the international law says that a deal would
be illegal if it is caused by threats of war. This is according to the Vienna Convention on the Law
of Treaties, which both the Philippines and China are parties to. With this continuous coward
stance of the Philippine Government, the Philippines might experience depletion and degradation
of marine resources. Our fishermen only depend on the fish stocks of our country and if we are
going to share it with another country who`s desperate of claiming all the power in that sea
would cause a great problem. In addition, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
emphasizes that a country may enter a fishing agreement with another country but there was no
obligation to do so. The West Philippine Sea is ours to keep. We are the rightful owner of that sea
that China is claiming. It is a part of our country, and therefore a part of our humanity, it may be
just a part of water but it affects a lot to our nation. It is the source of income of a huge number
of our fishermen, and giving it away would bring extreme poverty to those who have no other
jobs than fishing. It also plays a big part on our economy, and we may have scarcity in our fish
stocks if we would lose this fight for our territory against China. “War leaves behind widows.
War leaves behind orphans,” This was the statement the Duterte spoke last July at the Batasan
Pambansa`s Plenary Hall emphasizing that his administration is doing a delicate act of balancing
in order to avoid the coming conflict of China and the Philippines if we would be insisting our
rights to the sea. Critics have accused Duterte of revoking his duty as the President of the
Philippines to protect the country and his countrymen especially its territories. China`s threats of
war and militarization moved President Duterte to go easy with his decisions, allowing them to
enter our waters. “Tapang at Malasakit” (Courage and Compassion) was the line that made the
Ex-Mayor of Davao famous and became one of the reasons that brought him to his victory in the
2016 Elections. Where did these traits go? In times like these, he must`ve used his courage and
compassion for the Filipino people, and not act as coward in front of PRC. A lot of countries and
institutions are in favor of us, namely; UNCLOS, UN, ASEAN and many more because of one
reason, we possess the West Philippine Sea and no other country is entitled to claim it. We
shouldn`t have a “defeatist” stance against China in times like this. If we would continue on
allowing China overpower us, it is not just our territory that would be lost, these Chinese people
only cares about what they can get on that sea but does not consider the damages that they are
causing to nature especially marine creatures, species and coral reefs. WE, must fight for the
West Philippine Sea not just to get back what is ours but also to preserve marine life down under,
we are responsible of preserving its beauty and not just abusing what it gives us, no more
cowardly actions, let`s all stand together for the West Philippine Sea, let`s uphold our rights for
OUR sea.