MANILA – The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has urged Filipino fishermen to continue fishing despite the implementation of China’s anti-trespassing policy in the South China Sea.
According to PCG Commandant Admiral Ronnie Gil Gavan, they remain firm on the Philippines’ position that the controversial China’s regulation has no basis.
“Walang basehan ang regulasyon ng China kaya dapat huwag matakot ang ating mga mangingisda,” Gavan said in an interview with DZBB AM radio on Saturday.
He added: “Walang basehan ang China na maglabas ng ganu’ng utos. Ang ipinag-utos sa amin ng Pangulo, dapat wala kahit isang mangingisda ang maapektuhan nun.”
Gavan assured the Filipino fishermen that authorities will protect them if ever they will be arrested.
“Ang PCG, AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines), at BFAR (Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources) ay nagsama-sama para maprotektahan ang ating mga mangingisda,” Gavan said.
China issued a regulation last month empowering the China Coast Guard (CCG) to detain foreigners trespassing in the South China Sea without trial beginning on June 15.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its territorial claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
In 2016, however, an international arbitration tribunal in The Hague ruled that China’s claims over the South China Sea have no legal basis, a decision that Beijing does not recognize./PN
