China coast guard harassment hurting Filipino fishers' livelihood

Following threatening actions by the Chinese Coast Guard in Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal, several Filipino fishermen have stopped their fishing activities.

According to a "24 Oras" report by Marisol Abdurahman, the fishermen said they have decided to temporarily halt their regular voyage at sea to fish even if this means a loss of income for their families.

Felimon Meru, 57, has been fishing near the shoal for 32 years.

“18 miles pa kami sa Scarborough, hinaharas na kami. Nakatutok sila sa amin kaya natakot kami noon. Masakit sa akin yung ganung ginagawa nila. Imbes na may maipakain kami sa pamilya, wala na kaming maiuwi na isda. Ilang beses kaming na harass doon,” said Meru.

(We’re 18 miles away from Scarborough yet we were already harassed. They’re focusing on us so we got scared. What they did was painful for me. Instead of being able to feed our families, we have no fish to take home to them. We were harassed multiple times there)

“Natakot kasi kami kaya hindi na kami pumunta. Binobombahan kami ng tubig ng bumbero. Muntik na nga kaming lumubog,” added another fisherman, Eulito Samante.

(We got scared so we didn’t go anymore. They used water cannon on us. We almost sunk)

“Itataboy po kami sa medyo malaot. Ayaw po kaming paisdain dun sa mismong pangingisdaan po namin. Wala na po kaming mahuhuli,” said fellow fisher Lino Belbis.

(They drive us away. They won’t let us fish in the area where we used to fish. We can’t catch any more fish.)

“Nakikipag patintero nalang po kami [sa CCG]. Wala naman kaming ibang pinagkakabuhayan kundi yung Scarborough,” he added.

(We just play block and catch with them.  We don’t have any other livelihood source other than Scarborough.)

The fishers said their income from each sail has dropped from P10,000 to P3,000.  They hoped the government could provide aid to make their livelihood sustainable.

“Namimigay tayo ng fuel subsidy dito and those are items for Filipino fisherman to sustain their fishing expedition dito sa Bajo de Masinloc. Siguro this time, we’re going to have much more coordinated presence dito sa BDM to ensure na, hindi man 24/7, to supplement yung mga instance na nasa rotational deployment ang ating mga barko,” said Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson Commander Jay Tarriela.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday filed a latest diplomatic protest against China in response to its ongoing illegal actions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

DFA spokesperson Maria Teresita Daza said for January 2024 alone, the agency released a total of 4 note verbales to China.The latest protest is part of a series of protests over China's illegal actions in the WPS.

The latest incident involved the Chinese Coast Guard near the Bajo de Masinloc forcibly taking fish and other catch from a group of fishermen from Zambales. The Filipinos were also prevented from fishing further in the area. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/LDF, GMA Integrated News