Phl will take action to remove China’s floating barriers off Bajo de Masinloc
China's 300-m floating barrier on Scarborough Shoal prevents Philippine fishing boats from entering the shoal, denying them their livelihood as well as depriving the country of a valuable food source. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Coast Guard)
The National Security Adviser Eduardo Año on Monday said the Philippine government will take appropriate actions to remove the floating barriers installed by the China Coast Guard within the Filipinos' "traditional fishing vicinities" in Bajo de Masinloc (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea.
Año noted that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is always informed about all the developments in the WPS, particularly the aggressions of the Chinese Coast Guard against Filipino fishermen in the Bajo de Masinloc and in the Ayungin Shoal.
"We condemn the installation of floating barriers by CCG in BDM. The placement by the People's Republic of China of a barrier violates the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen whose rights have been affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral ruling," Año said.
He was referring to the report of the Philippine Coast Guard that a 300-meter floating barrier was placed along the Scarborough Shoal—which prevented Filipino fishermen from entering the area and being deprived of fishing on their traditional fishing grounds.
Año said that the installation of CCG's Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats and the Chinese Maritime Militia's service boat of floating barriers in the vicinities of Bajo de Masinloc "strictly violates" the rules-based international order anchored to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
"It ruled categorically that such action by the PRC violated the traditional fishing rights of our fishermen in the shoal who have been fishing there for centuries," he stressed.
The Philippines insists that UNCLOS remains an archipelagic doctrine for the country regarding its exclusive economic zone in the WPS.
"Any State that prevents them from doing artisanal fishing there violates UNCLOS and international law, in general," Año further stressed.
Año assured the government is initiating necessary steps to assert the country's sovereign rights over the shoal.
"We will take all appropriate actions to cause the removal of the barriers and to protect the rights of our fishermen in the area," he said.