PH condemns China’s latest harassment of Filipino fishers

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 22) — The Philippine government on Monday condemned the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) latest harassment of Filipino fishermen, with an official calling on Beijing to implement its commitment to de-escalate tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

During a public briefing, National Task Force for West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the government was hoping that the situation in the contested waters would be “calmer,” especially as the Philippines and China only met recently to improve talks on handling conflict in the WPS.

READ: PH, China agree to boost dialogue anew to manage South China Sea tension

“Ngunit dito sa huling kaganapan kung saan nagkaroon na naman ng pagtataboy o harassment ang ating fishermen sa kamay ng mga Chinese Coast Guard, ikinakabahala natin ito and we condemn this latest provocative action,” he said.[Translation: But there was another incident where our fishermen were driven away or harassed by the China Coast Guard, we are worried and we condemn this latest provocative action.]Malaya urged China to “match” its actions on the ground, reflecting the two nations’ earlier commitment to boost dialogue and lower tensions in the disputed waters.“Sana ma-implement ang paguusap dahil it’s not in the interest of the Philippines and China na tumaas ang tension ngayong 2024,” he added.[Translation: I hope the discussion will be implemented because it’s not in the interest of the Philippines and China to increase the tension this 2024.]In a separate briefing, Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson, said the incident was “alarming.”“We consider this alarming kasi ‘yun nga no lumalapit at lumalapit na ‘yung mga incident (because the incidents are getting closer and closer),” she said.“We assure the public that we will continuously do our regular operations in our territorial waters,” she added.The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Sunday revealed that Filipino fishermen at Bajo de Masinloc were harassment by CCG last Jan. 12.

READ: PCG: China Coast Guard chased off Filipino fishermen from Bajo de Masinloc anew

According to PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela, the agency has video evidence of the harassment.