Rody: Pinoy fishermen may return to Panatag

Filipinos may be able to fish again in Chinese-occupied Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal “in a few days,” according to President Duterte.

“We’ll just wait for a few more days. We may be able to return to Scarborough Shoal and our countrymen may be able to fish there again,” Duterte said during his visit to typhoon victims in Tuguegarao, Cagayan yesterday.

The President disclosed that Scarborough Shoal was discussed during his four-day trip to China last week, aimed at paving the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations pale with longtime ally the United States.

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin had said Panatag was not mentioned during Duterte’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Liu said the two leaders mainly agreed to strengthen fishery cooperation in the West Philippine Sea.

But Duterte said he had a separate meeting with Xi during

which he mentioned the arbitral court ruling in favor of the Philippines.

“I said we won, but (Xi) said ‘it is ours historically and we won’t give it up’,” Duterte said. “I told him we won’t pick a fight. No solutions will emerge when we kill each other.”

Duterte said Xi agreed to solve the maritime dispute peacefully although he was told, “it might take time.”

The President then insisted to Xi on the need to talk more about the issue.

“One day in the future, we will talk about this. We can’t leave this hanging. One day, I will say we won’t go beyond this document, which states that we won ( the case),” Duterte said.

“I will not insist now. I will not impose now. I will not go to war now. I will not waste the lives of my soldiers.”

Duterte said he talked about fishing in the shoal’s lagoon, the breeding ground of marine species, during his meeting with a Chinese official he did not name. He had met with Xi, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and National People’s Congress chairman Zhang Dejiang during the state visit.

“Those are really lagoons in the oceans and they are fish spawning grounds. That is the place where fish give birth and small fish stay there when they are not ready to go out into the ocean,” Duterte said. The UN-backed Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague had awarded the Philippines sovereign rights over Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank, and declared Panatag a common fishing ground. The court, which invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash-line claim over nearly the entire South China Sea, also ruled that China had violated Philippine fishing rights in barring Filipinos from Panatag.

Duterte said he mentioned the arbitral court ruling during his meeting with a Chinese leader, who insisted that China has historical rights over the shoal.

“I said when we return to the Scarborough Shoal as owner, although they (China) also claim to be its owner, I told them not to fish there (in the lagoon). That was my appeal so we can have a good (fish) supply,” he added.

It was not immediately clear if that meant China had given an indication it would end its four-year blockade of the shoal, but Duterte said he had the impression that the Chinese leader whom he did not name had already asked the Chinese in Panatag to leave the area.

“That was what we discussed, but I don’t know if they would comply with it,” Duterte said.

Truce

The President admitted agreeing to some sort of truce with Chinese leaders on the territorial disputes and said that Filipinos should regain fishing rights in Scarborough Shoal.

Two Chinese sources with ties to the leadership said last week that China would consider giving Filipino fishermen conditional access to the disputed waters in the South China Sea after a meeting between the leaders of the two countries.

China seized Scarborough in 2012, denying Filipino fishermen access to the shoal.

This formed part of a case the Philippines took to the arbitral court, which in July rejected China’s territorial claims over much of the South China Sea, including its assertion of a 320-kilometer exclusive economic zone around the disputed Spratly Islands.

China immediately declared the ruling “null and void” but said it was time for talks again between the countries directly involved in the territorial disputes to reach a peaceful resolution.

“China said it is theirs. I also told them it is ours,” Duterte said.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion in trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of it.

Duterte’s efforts to engage China mark a reversal in Philippine foreign policy since he took office on June 30.

In his speech in Tuguegarao, the President told residents that China will be granting $24 billion in soft loans to the Philippines.

He said he would use the fund to improve the country’s agriculture industry and small-scale business for poor communities.

The militant fishermen group Pamalakaya said Duterte should not let China use its promised economic aid to advance its geopolitical agenda.

“A comprehensive and detailed utilization plan on our abundant resources in the West Philippine Sea through the backing of international tribunal’s decision might help in asserting our sovereignty and territorial rights. This utilization plan must forge and fuel our domestic industry that could be a stepping stone towards a patriotic foreign policy,” Pamalakaya chair Fernando Hicap said.

While building China ties, the President has denounced the United States, apparently after being infuriated by western criticism of his bloody war on drugs.

He has called US President Barack Obama a “son of a bitch” and told him to “go to hell,” putting to question longstanding military ties.

On Thursday, while in China, Duterte provoked fresh diplomatic alarm by announcing his “separation” from the United States. He struck a more conciliatory tone as he arrived home on Friday.