Philippines – Fishers count on Philippine’s president to protect them from China Coast Guard
East Manila – Philippines 13/04/2019
The leftist fishers group Pamalakaya stated that fishers are being forced to stop fishing and constantly harassed by China Coast Guard despite the 2016 ruling in favor of Philippines regarding disputed islands in South China Sea. This occurred concurrently with the pursuit of Filipino president Rodrigo Duterte towards establishing friendly relations with China and its president Xi Jinping. Pamalakaya National Chairperson Fernando Hicap says that president Duterte should support the interests of Filipinos, in addition to utilizing the friendly relations with the Chinese president in order to solve this problem that has caused Philippines’ weekly fishing yield to decline from 20 tons to 1-2 tons. A professor in the Chinese Studies Program at Ateneo de Manila University expressed hope that the 2nd Belt and Road Forum scheduled late this month will be an opportunity for both parties to discuss the disputes over West Philippine Sea and protect Filipino fishers.