Philippine Daily Inquirer

Carlo Montehermo­zo

- —YOLANDA SOTELO

Carlo Montehermo­zo, 37, had the courage to quiz then presidenti­al candidate Rodrigo Duterte how he planned to help fishermen like him who were being constantly harassed by Chinese patrol vessels in the West Philippine Sea. Mr. Duterte’s now-famous reply—made during the April 2016 presidenti­al debate held at the University of Pangasinan in Dagupan City—gave the fisherman hope that their pitiful situation would change for the better. The former Davao mayor then boasted that he would jet ski to the Spratly Islands and plant the Philippine flag there. But Montehermo­zo’s heart sank this week after Duterte, in one of his televised, late-night rants as President, said the people who believed this “campaign joke” were “stupid.” Hurting from the remark, Montehermo­zo said “life has to go on. Since ‘Karboro (Scarboroug­h Shoal) is off limits to us, we make do with fishing at the peripherie­s.” And he and his friends may have to continue enduring tense encounters— or “picture-taking sessions”—with the Chinese whenever they reach the shoal, he said.

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