Youth groups stage protest at China embassy

A youth-led group protested in front of the Chinese Embassy on Monday, condemning China’s recent actions in the West Philippine Sea.

The group — identified as Filipinos Do Not Yield (FDNY) Movement — held a “die-in” protest, a performance, and threw rotten tomatoes at replicas of Chinese ships.

According to the organizers, the demonstration was a direct response to the 11 August incident in which Chinese Coast Guard vessels used water cannons on Philippine Coast Guard ships during a resupply mission in Bajo de Masinloc.

FDNY convenor Giselle Albano said the protest, called “Kadamay para sa Bagong Bayaning Mangingisda,” aimed to defend the welfare of Filipino fishermen and stand against China’s “bullying.”

It also condemned what it called China’s “distortion of the truth” about the naval encounter, which it said was an attempt to sow doubt among the Filipino public and discredit Philippine troops.

The FDNY Movement vowed to continue its protest actions as long as China “fails to respect the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), disregards the 12 July 2016 Arbitral Tribunal Award and continues its bullying and harassment of Filipino soldiers and fishermen.”

The group also called on the Filipino public to unite against China’s “aggressive actions and false propaganda” and to support the Marcos Jr. administration’s policies concerning the West Philippine Sea.