Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 5) — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. brought up the plight of Filipino fishermen to Chinese President Xi Jinping who promised to find a solution to avoid misunderstanding in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“I was very clear in trying to talk about the plight of our fishermen. And the President promised that we would find a compromise and find a solution that will be beneficial so our fishermen might be able to fish again in their natural fishing ground,” Marcos said in a video shared to the media on Wednesday.
Marcos also said avoiding misunderstanding was among the topics they discussed, but he did not provide details.
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The Philippine government has filed dozens of diplomatic protests against China over “illegal presence of foreign maritime militia vessels, illegal fishing, harassment of fishermen and unauthorized marine scientific research” in the WPS, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
Meanwhile, PAMALAKAYA, an alliance of fisherfolk, said the only solution to the issues concerning Filipino fishers is for China to leave Philippine waters.
“We don’t need Xi Jinping to come up with a ‘compromise’ to address the plight of Filipino fishers because we already have the legal and political claim over our territorial waters,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA national chairperson said on Thursday.
In the statement, the group said their estimate indicates a fisherman from Zambales loses 70% of income per fishing trip due to the presence of Chinese forces in the resource-rich Scarboroug (or Panatag) Shoal.
“There can only be one solution: China must abide by the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea that recognizes our exclusive economic zone,” PAMALAKAYA added.
On Jan. 4, Manila and Beijing reached an agreement on the establishment of a communication mechanism on maritime issues between the DFA and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. This was done alongside 13 other bilateral agreements.
LIST: PH, China sign 14 bilateral deals during Marcos’ state visit
During his meeting with Xi, Marcos also said the country wants to continue the negotiation on the joint oil exploration in the WPS, adding it “is very important to the Philippines.”
