CCG harasses Palawan fishermen

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY — Two groups of fishermen from Rizal, Palawan were prevented from getting to their fish aggregating devices (payao) by the China Coast Guard on 2 February, around 54 nautical miles from the shoreline of their municipality, at different times, with a water cannon being displayed as a warning.

Precious Joy Galicia, who posted a video of the incident on 3 February, clarified that the fishermen were not directly sprayed with the water cannon, but it was deployed to scare them away.

“They were threatened with a water cannon. It was taken out, but they were not sprayed with it,” she said.

In the video, a fisherman on the harassed boat can be heard describing the presence of the CCG as they follow them while they attempt to approach their payao.

“There’s the Chinese ship. They’re harassing us. Look, they’re even recording videos,” the fisherman said, noting that the CCG vessel is accompanied by another while intimidating them away.

The fishermen were located 54 nautical miles off the coast of Sicud, Rizal, in southern Palawan, when they were intercepted and ordered to leave by the CCG.

The CCG personnel reportedly insisted that the fishermen were only 15 miles away from a certain “boundary,” though it was unclear which boundary they were referring to.