Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon, saying there is ample proof, prodded Foreign Secretary Alan S. Peter Cayetano on Wednesday to lodge a formal protest asserting Filipino fishermen’s right to traditional fishing grounds in West Philippine Sea (WPS) to avert another incident of harassment by Chinese Coast Guard authorities.
“I think there is enough evidence,” Drilon said.
Pointing out that the latest WPS incident has been widely reported in media, Drilon, who is also a lawyer, suggested the documented incident should embolden the Department of Foreign Affairs top official to file a formal protest to assert the rights of the Filipino fishermen, given ample evidence to prove their case.
“What happened there was already reported in media,” the senator said in requesting Cayetano to take up the cudgels for the Filipino fishermen. “The media has given its account on the incident. I am, specifically, urging Secretary Cayetano to initiate the filing of protest against China,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He added: “We must protect our right over that area, especially given the favorable ruling that we had.”
The senator was referring to the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) ruling laid down in July 2016 that China’s nine-dash-line claim over 90 percent of the South China Sea has no legal basis. It also ruled that China was illegally occupying and cannot claim ownership over Scarborough Shoal.
The PCA declared that the shoal, though within the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone, is not owned by any country, and is an international traditional fishing ground for Filipinos, Vietnamese and other Asians.
In a brief interview at the wake of the late Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, Drilon said he has yet to hear “that we have been assertive of our rights” in the WPS.
“Maybe I was not reading the newspaper or listening to radio reports. But I was a little bit shocked on hearing claims they have filed about 100 protests [against Chinese intrusions in WPS],” Drilon said, adding, “that is a little difficult to believe.”