BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) has expressed its support for Filipino fishermen who have been harassed by the Chinese Coast Guard in the West Philippine Sea.
The IBP condemned the actions of the Chinese Coast Guard, which attempted to block the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) rescue mission on Saturday, June 29, when the agency was responding to an incident in waters near Bajo de Masinloc after the engine of Filipino fishing boat “Akio” exploded, leaving two injured.
“The Filipino fishermen have the legal right to go fishing within the 200 miles Philippine exclusive economic zone, while the Philippine government is duty-bound to protect fishermen inside this zone,” the IBP said.
The PCG’s BRP Sindangan (MRRV-4407) was patrolling when it received a directive to respond to the incident involving the Filipino fishermen, located 17 nautical miles southwest of Bajo de Masinloc.
In a statement issued on Sunday, PCG personnel provided medical assistance to two fishers who suffered second-degree burns and gave food and medical aid to all eight onboard.
“The Chinese Coast Guard deployed two Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats (RHIBs) not to assist the PCG, but to obstruct and hinder their efforts in rescuing the two injured Filipino fishermen,” said Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesman for the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS).
Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, is a rich fishing ground in the West Philippine Sea. It has been the subject of territorial disputes between the Philippines and China.
The shoal is situated approximately 124 nautical miles west of Zambales, a province in the Philippines, making it well within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
In a statement issued yesterday, the IBP said the Treaty of Paris of 1898, concluded in the Spanish-American war, clearly delineated the territorial boundaries of the Philippine archipelago.
Art. III of the Treaty of Paris, Spain relinquished to the United States all rights of sovereignty over the Philippines, including the waters surrounding the islands, the IBP noted.
The Spanish-US Treaty in Washington in 1900 supported the Treaty of Paris by affirming it. The Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Washington lay outside the lines under Article III of the Treaty of Paris of December 10, 1898.
When the Philippines gained its independence, all these islands covered by the Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Washington that form part of the Philippine archipelago became part of the country’s territory.
In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) to which the Philippines and China are signatories granted coastal states sovereign rights over their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) known as the Scarborough Shoal.
The PCA, a non-United Nations intergovernmental organization based in The Hague, Netherlands, ruled that China’s claim of historic rights to resources within its so-called nine-dash line had no basis in law.
The West Philippine Sea straddles maritime areas on the western side of the Philippine archipelago, including the Luzon Sea, the Kalayaan Island Group, and Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal.
“This decision clarified that the Philippines shall enjoy all economic rights within its EEZ, including fishing, resource exploration, and marine conservation,” the IBP said.
The international tribunal clarified the Philippines shall enjoy all economic rights within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, resource exploration, and marine conservation.
“Therefore, the West Philippine Sea is inside the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone to the extent of 200 miles measured from our country’s archipelagic baselines,” the IBP said.
The group said the Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc is merely 120 miles from Zambales, the traditional fishing ground of Filipino fishermen.
“In this regard, the 1987 Constitution mandates the protection of the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially those from local communities, to preferential use of communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore,” the group said./PN
