China has sent dozens of coast guard and maritime militia vessels toward a disputed atoll in the South China Sea, a large show of force aimed at blocking a civilian protest flotilla from the Philippines, as tensions between the countries have flared. The Filipino group organizing the flotilla of about 100 small fishing boats, led by five slightly bigger ones, said it wanted to assert the Philippines’ claims to Scarborough Shoal, an atoll controlled by Beijing that is closer to Manila. But even before the motley Philippine fleet set out on Wednesday morning, China deployed a formidable contingent of much bigger government-run ships to the area, an intimidating escalation of its frequent assertions of control over vast expanses of sea far from its mainland.

Standoffs and close brushes between Filipino coast guard or civilian vessels and China’s larger coast guard and militia ships — which have used powerful water cannons to drive Philippine vessels away — have become more frequent in the past two years. This time, the size of the Chinese presence and the large number of civilian Filipino boats could make any encounter near the shoal more risky, Mr. Powell said. “If China decides that they want to send the message that says, ‘We’ve had enough of this,’ then the scary thing you would not want to see is one of these small Filipino fishing boats hit by a water cannon, because that would not end well,” he said.

West Philippine Sea, Part 3

(Source)

🇵🇭 The Philippines accuses 🇨🇳 China of damaging its vessel in the disputed South China Sea shoal | Reuters 

#ScarboroughShoal #BajoDeMasinloc #WestPhilippineSea #SouthChinaSea #ChineseVessel #CCG #PCG #PhilippineCoastGuard #MaritimeMilitia #ChineseMilitia

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/chinas-coast-guard-expels-philippine-vessels-scarborough-shoal-state-media-says-4302206

The Cartographic Journey of Scarborough Shoal since the 1750s

Scarborough Shoal first appeared on Philippine maps in the 1750s after the British ship Scarborough struck the reef in 1748, marked on key historical maps including the 1799 Heather 'Chart of the China Seas'.

via Philippine Star, 21 November 2023: The Scarborough Shoal, originally named after the British East India Co. ship that struck the reef in 1748, first appeared on Philippine maps in the 1750s. This naming and mapping were initiated by English cartographers following the shipwreck. The shoal is depicted in the 1799 William Heather ‘Chart of the China Seas’ and the 1749 Murillo Velarde map under…

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Chinese Coast Guard Blocks Filipino Fishermen from Accessing Scarborough Shoal

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Coast Guard has taken measures to prevent Filipino fisherfolk from entering the lagoon of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, according to a statement by a fishers’ group yesterday. The Bigkis ng mga Mangingisda Federation in Masinloc, Zambales, reported an escalated presence of Chinese vessels in the Panatag area in recent years. Henrelito Empoc, the group’s…

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Chinese Coast Guard Blocks Filipino Fishermen from Accessing Scarborough Shoal

MANILA, Philippines — The Chinese Coast Guard has taken measures to prevent Filipino fisherfolk from entering the lagoon of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, according to a statement by a fishers’ group yesterday. The Bigkis ng mga Mangingisda Federation in Masinloc, Zambales, reported an escalated presence of Chinese vessels in the Panatag area in recent years. Henrelito Empoc, the group’s…

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Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Jay Tarriela was caught making False Statements about the supposed removal of the Floating Barriers at Scarborough Shoal, and he didn’t even know the Lagoon there was a Fish Sanctuary and Off-Limits to Fishermen

Backyard Disputes: Why the Scarborough Shoal Issue Matters

Hey folks, just to clear the air, I’m not sinophobic and I don’t have any beef with Chinese people. Honestly, I love Chinese food and kung fu movies as much as the next person. My issue is more with what’s happening over at the Scarborough Shoal. It’s like someone coming into your backyard and setting up camp without asking. The whole situation with China claiming the entire West Philippine Sea…

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The Philippines' fisheries bureau said China is trying to "intentionally destroy" the Scarborough Shoal.

The fish-rich atoll is hotly contested by China, but internationally recognized as Manila's.

The bureau on Saturday accused Chinese vessels of pumping cyanide into the shoal's waters.

The Philippines' fishing bureau has accused Chinese fishing vessels of using cyanide to destroy the Scarborough Shoal, a fish-rich atoll in the South China Sea contested by both Manila and Beijing.

"These Chinese fishermen use cyanide," Nazario Briguera, a spokesperson for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said on Saturday, per a translation from Filipino by The Philippine Star.

Cyanide fishing is a controversial fishing method that typically involves dumping the highly toxic chemical near coral reefs or in fishing grounds to stun or kill fish so they can be easily captured.

It is widely condemned because it indiscriminately affects most marine species in the area, causes severe damage to aquatic ecosystems, and can make fish harmful to handle or eat.

But Brigeura accused the Chinese fishermen of using cyanide to also "intentionally destroy Bajo de Masinloc to prevent Filipino fishing boats to fish in the area," per The Philippine Star. Bajo de Masinloc is the Spanish name for the Scarborough Shoal.

The spokesperson estimated that the alleged use of cyanide would result in around $17,850,000 in damages to the region, per the outlet.

The bureau said it has not conducted a formal study of the total damage, but called it a "serious concern," The Philippine Star reported.

"We will see clearer, and we will have proof or evidence that this is really being done by Chinese fishermen and, apparently, other foreign fishers," Briguera said, per Philippine outlet GMA News.

However, the Philippine Coast Guard on Sunday said it hadn't found any evidence of Chinese fishermen using cyanide and could not confirm the fisheries bureau's accusation.

"We don't have any scientific study or any evidence that would suggest that cyanide fishing in Bajo de Masinloc can be attributed to the Chinese or the Vietnamese fishermen," coast guard spokesperson spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said, per GMA News.

Notably, the Philippines' fishing industry was known to use cyanide fishing back in the 1960s to capture live fish for aquariums and restaurants, though the practice has become less common. In 2023, a study from the Cebu-based Coastal Conservation and Education Foundation found that some Filipino fishermen still use cyanide in the South China Sea.

In response to the accusations, the Chinese state-linked tabloid The Global Times wrote that the Philippines had "groundlessly smeared" China over its cyanide claims. The outlet is known for sticking closely to Beijing's viewpoints.

West Philippine Sea, Part 2

(Source)

On Dec. 9, China Coast Guard vessels fired water cannons at Philippine supply ships in the Scarborough Shoal, where the Philippine ships had arrived to resupply fishermen. That’s just the latest skirmish in the disputed atoll, which is located near the Philippines but was seized by China in 2012. In fact, in recent months, China has markedly increased its maritime bullying in the waters off the Philippines. That trend is already beginning to spread nervousness among Western businesses interested in friendshoring some of their operations to the Philippines—which may be precisely what China is after.

The water-cannon attack on the Philippine supply ships, which resulted in one of the vessels suffering engine damage and having to be towed back to port, came only a few weeks after two other heavy-handed actions by Chinese vessels near the Philippine coast.

In late October, a Philippine supply vessel and a vessel from the Philippine Coast Guard were bumped, respectively, by a China Coast Guard vessel and a vessel belonging to China’s maritime militia. The incidents took place near the Second Thomas Shoal, in waters that both the Philippines and China consider their own. In 2016, the tribunal in charge of enforcing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) sided with Manila over the Second Thomas Shoal, but that hasn’t stopped Beijing from claiming it is the rightful owner and underlining this point through various maritime provocations.

Indeed, for the past decade, there have been regular encounters between China and the Philippines in the desolate waters.

In recent months, China has been particularly keen to demonstrate its presence around the Scarborough and Second Thomas shoals. It has rammed Philippine Coast Guard vessels and boats resupplying fishermen. It has used water cannons against Philippine vessels and tried to chase them away. On just one day in November, 38 Chinese vessels were circling the Second Thomas Shoal’s waters, according to The Associated Press.

“There has been a gradual escalation this year, which you can trace back to February, when a Chinese vessel directed [a military-grade] laser against a Philippine vessel and the Philippines made the footage public,” said Ray Powell, the director of Stanford University’s SeaLight group, which tracks maritime gray-zone aggression. “The footage got a lot of attention, which encouraged the Philippines to take pictures of other incidents that were already happening,” Powell added. “That has continued throughout the year, and now the situation has become escalatory.”

Beijing’s objective, Powell said, is to discourage any attempts by nearby countries to follow the Philippines’ example in asserting their rights to waters that China has unilaterally declared to belong to Beijing. “China wants to communicate that it has jurisdiction in the South China Sea and gets to decide over activities there,” he explained.

The aggression may be of the gray-zone kind—that is, not involving military violence—but it’s decidedly harmful, and not just to the Philippine and other vessels being targeted. “China’s harassment of civilian Philippine vessels carrying out humanitarian missions has a negative impact on shipping in the surrounding waters,” Amparo Pamela Fabe, a professor at the Philippines’ National Police College and a fellow of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Brute Krulak Center, told me. “It also heightens the geopolitical tensions in the South China Sea.”

Indeed, the harassment has so alarmed the U.S. Defense Department that the U.S. military is now making a point of showing its presence off the Philippine coast, including by sending aircraft to circle above altercations between Chinese and Philippine vessels. But in reality, there isn’t much the Pentagon can do to deter the vessels from the China Coast Guard or the maritime militia off the coast of the Philippines: The United States wouldn’t risk an armed conflict with China over the harassment of Philippine vessels.

So the harassment will continue and even expand—and simply being a nuisance in the waters may be China’s whole point, because the altercations are causing considerable anxiety. “Philippine vessels cannot freely enter the area within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, and Philippine fisherfolk cannot go fishing in the area,” Fabe noted.

And the anxiety doesn’t end there. That’s because the Philippines is one of the countries to which manufacturers keen to reduce their operations in China have turned their attention.

Global manufacturers assessing potential new locations for some of their manufacturing see lots of benefits to setting up shop there. The country has a comparatively well-educated labor force that includes many English-speaking workers. It’s mostly friendly with the West. It’s geographically close to China, which would mean comparatively moderate disruption as entire supply chains are shifted. It even has workable relations with its other regional neighbors, which is indispensable to friendshoring efforts, as no single country can replicate China’s extraordinary all-in-one manufacturing solution.

But getting friendshoring business is by no means something to be taken for granted; competition is fierce among the prospective beneficiaries of this sudden and rapidly accelerating shift. In a July ranking of friendshoring destinations published by the consultancy Kearney, the Philippines had dropped three places since the company’s 2021 ranking, falling to 12th place, primarily as a result by significant efforts by Mexico and Colombia to attract U.S. manufacturers.

And easy access to ports in prospective new locations is crucial as manufacturers decide where to set up shop or expand operations. Without a guarantee that the transportation of components can take place without disruption, manufacturers will be wary of setting up factories in the Philippines or anywhere else in the region.

That’s why China’s maritime harassment is so effective: It not only immediately affects Philippine fisherfolk, shipping companies, and manufacturers, but also makes global manufacturers nervous about friendshoring in the Philippines. And the manufacturers don’t need to be reminded that China can choose to engage in the same bullying of Vietnam and other nations in the South China Sea to whose waters China also lays partial claim and which also stand to become friendshoring destinations. Indeed, China Coast Guard, civilian, and “research” ships have already taken to harassing Vietnamese oil and gas operations in Vietnam’s exclusive economic zone.

China didn’t launch its maritime harassment with friendshoring in mind. But being able to delay or even thwart friendshoring has turned out to be one of the benefits of the harassment. And because it’s not military aggression, it’s unclear what the response should be.

One thing is clear, though: If the world wants friendshoring to succeed, China’s maritime harassment will need to be stopped. The question is by whom.

How a Philippine coastguard ship ended up being surrounded by 12 Chinese vessels | Sky News

https://news.sky.com/story/how-a-philippine-coastguard-ship-ended-up-being-surrounded-by-12-chinese-vessels-13126205

#ScarboroughShoal #BajoDeMasinloc #WestPhilippineSea #SouthChinaSea #ChineseVessel #CCG #PCG #PhilippineCoastGuard #MaritimeMilitia #ChineseMilitia #ChineseCoastGuard

https://libertarianinstitute.org/news-roundup/news-roundup-9-27-2023/

Here is your daily roundup of today's news:

News Roundup 9/27/2023

by Kyle Anzalone

US News

Senator Robert Menendez denied the allegations levied against him by the Department of Justice. Last week, a grand jury indicted the powerful Senator on bribery charges. Investigators found hundreds of thousands of dollars said to be payments to access the Senator’s influence. The Institute 

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the US would increase its military ties with Kenya. Washington agreed to provide additional security assistance to Kenya after Nairobi agreed to lead a UN mission to Haiti. The Institute

Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that the first batch of US-made Abrams tanks have arrived in Ukraine, which are armed with toxic depleted uranium (DU) ammunition. AWC

The Biden administration on Monday announced a $2 billion loan for Poland that will go toward modernizing Warsaw’s military. AWC

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Budapest was ending support for Kiev on international issues due to a 2017 Ukrainian law that limits the rights of Hungarians. The announcement comes as Ukraine’s support in Eastern Europe wanes, with Poland halting all weapons transfers to Kiev after President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized Warsaw. The Institute

Four American advanced fighter jets arrived in Romania and will begin conducting patrols over the Black Sea region, according to NATO. The deployment comes as Washington wages a proxy war against Moscow in Ukraine that has stretched into the Black Sea. The Institute

The commander of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet attended a Russian Defense Ministry video conference on Tuesday, a day after Ukraine claimed he was killed in a September 22 missile strike on the fleet’s headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea. AWC

A senior US official told The Washington Post that the Biden administration is not pressuring Ukraine to hold elections, while some Western officials do want to see a wartime vote. AWC

A report from 60 Minutes that aired Sunday detailed how US taxpayer dollars are not only funding weapons in Ukraine but are also subsidizing small businesses and paying first responders salaries, among other things. AWC

Senate leaders on Tuesday announced they reached a deal on a stopgap funding bill that needs to be passed by September 30 to avert a partial government shutdown. The bill includes $6.2 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion for natural disasters. AWC

On Tuesday, the Kremlin said US-provided Abrams tanks in Ukraine will not impact Russia’s operations and will “burn” like other Western armored vehicles. AWC

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday that the Turkish parliament will ratify Sweden’s NATO membership as long as the US follows through on its plans to sell Turkey F-16 fighter jets. AWC

China

President Biden is hosting Pacific Island leaders for a second annual summit in Washington that’s part of his administration’s strategy to counter China in the Asia Pacific. AWC

The Philippines is taking steps to retake Scarborough Shoal, a disputed chain of rocks and reefs in the South China Sea that has been effectively controlled by China since 2012. AWC

Middle East

Israeli Tourism Minister Haim Katz arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday for a UN conference, making him the first senior Israeli official to publicly visit the Kingdom, which comes as the US is pushing for a Saudi-Israeli normalization deal. AWC

After weeks of clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Arab tribesman aligned with Deir Ezzor Military Council (DEMC), the SDF has imposed a curfew following a resumption of fighting on Monday. These ethnic tensions are boiling over in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzor province, illegally occupied by the US and its SDF partners, as the Arab majority resists Kurdish rule. The Institute

Read More

Thomas Ellerby - Portrait of John Wilson Carmichael - 1839

oil on panel, height: 25.7 cm (10.1 in); width: 20.2 cm (7.9 in)

South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, UK

Thomas Ellerby (10 January 1797 - 4 April 1861) was an English portrait artist whose work included 72 paintings chosen for hanging at The Royal Academy of Arts exhibitions from 1821 until 1857. He remained active as a painter until the end of his life.

James John Wilson Carmichael (9 June 1800 – 1868), also known as John Carmichael was a British marine painter.

Carmichael was born at the Ouseburn, in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, on 9 June 1800, the son of William Carmichael, a ship's carpenter. He went to sea at an early age, and spent three years on board a vessel sailing between ports in Spain and Portugal. On his return, he was apprenticed to a shipbuilding firm.  After completing his apprenticeship, he devoted all his spare time to art, and eventually gave up the carpentry business, setting himself up as a drawing-master and miniature painter. His first historical painting to attract public notice was the Fight Between the Shannon and Chesapeake, which sold for 13 guineas (£13.65). He then painted The Bombardment of Algiers for Trinity House, Newcastle, for which he received 40 guineas; it is still at Trinity House, along with The Heroic Exploits of Admiral Lord Collingwood in HMS "Excellent" at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, painted in collaboration with George Balmer. Another important early commission was for a View of Newcastle for which the city corporation paid him 100 guineas. During the redevelopment of the centre of Newcastle, Carmichael worked with the architect John Dobson to produce some joint works, including paintings with designs for the Central Station and the Grainger Market.[4] He also collaborated with John Blackmore to produce an illustrated book: Views on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in 1836.

His name first appears as an exhibitor in 1838, when he contributed an oil painting, Shipping in the Bay of Naples, to the Society of British Artists. He showed both oil paintings and watercolours at the Royal Academy, his contributions including The Conqueror towing the Africa off the Shoals of Trafalgar (1841) and The Arrival of the Royal Squadron (1843).

He lived in Newcastle until about 1845, when he moved to London, where he was already known as a skilful marine painter. In 1855, during the Crimean War he was sent to the Baltic to make drawings for The Illustrated London News. His painting of the bombardment of Sveaborg, which he witnessed during this assignment, was exhibited at the Royal Academy and is now in the collection of the National Maritime Museum.

He later moved to Scarborough, where he died in 1868.

He published The Art of Marine Painting in Water-Colours in 1859, and The Art of Marine Painting in Oil-Colours in 1864.

His daughter Annie married William Luson Thomas son of a shipbroker and a successful artist who, exasperated by the treatment of artists by the Illustrated London News, founded in 1869 The Graphic newspaper which had immense influence within the art world.

フィリピン沿岸警備隊は25日、中国海警局が南シナ海（South China Sea）のスカボロー礁（Scarborough Shoal）に設置した浮遊式の障害物（ブイ）を撤去したと発表した。 　スカボロー礁はフィリピン・ルソン（Luzon）島の西240キロ、中国・海南（Hainan）島から約900キロの地点にあり、中国に実効支配されている。フィリピン側は周辺海域で活動する自国漁民に定期的に物資を補給しているが、先週、その際に礁の入り口に長さ約300メートルの障害物が設置されているのを確認した。 　フィリピン沿岸警備隊が公表した映像には、ゴーグルとシュノーケル、足ひれを着けた隊員が白いブイをつなぐロープをナイフで切断している様子が捉えられている。 　別の映像には、転覆防止用の舷外浮材を装着した木製のボートに、ブイのアンカーを引き揚げている様子も映っている。すべての障害物が撤去されたかは不明。 　沿岸警備隊は「障害物は航行の妨げになっており、明白な国際法違反」だと主張。撤去は「大統領の指示に基づいて」行われたとしている。(c)AFP

フィリピン、中国設置の浮遊式障害物「撤去」 南シナ海　写真16枚　国際ニュース：AFPBB News

OPINION: SoberANYARE?: Ang Patuloy na Alitan sa West Philippine Sea

Photo credit: Sulat Nadera at Anna Dalet

Hindi na bagong isyu ang kaguluhan sa pagitan ng Pilipinas at Tsina hinggil sa West Philippine Sea (WPS). Maraming taon na ang nakalipas ngunit nabubuhay pa rin ang banta sa kabuhayan at kaligtasan ng ating mga lokal na mangingisda. Kaya kasabay ng mga bagong insidente ng karahasan nitong nakaraang buwan, bakit hindi kinikilala at pinapakinggan ang hinaing ng mga Pilipino? At bakit hindi magawa-gawang ipaglaban ng gobyerno ang ating soberanya?

Kamakailan lang nitong Pebrero 6, ibinalita ang pagtutok ng isang China Coast Guard (CCG) na barko ng military-grade laser sa Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessel sa Ayungin Shoal. Kasabay nito ay pinalayas ng iba pang Tsinong barko ang mga mangingisdang Pilipino sa bahagi ng karagatan kung saan sila kadalasang nangingisda. Kinumpirma ang pangyayari sa isang seminar na pinangunahan ng People’s Development Institute kung saan ibinahagi ng grupo ng mangingisda ang kanilang mga saloobin sa naganap na pagpapaalis. Bago ang nasabing insidente, ilang pag-uusap pa ang naganap upang talakayin ang isyu ng hidwaan sa WPS sa pamamagitan ng bilateral talks nang maiwasan ang paggamit ng pwersa’t pagbabanta. Gayunpaman, pagkatapos lamang ng isang buwan, muling nasaksihan ang pangha-harass ng mga naglalakihang barko ng Tsina sa mga mangingisdang Pilipino. Ilang insidente na rin ng pangha-harass ang ginawa noon gaya ng paggamit ng water cannon noong 2014, pagkumpiska sa mga huling isda noong 2018, at pagtaboy sa isang team ng ABS-CBN news noong 2021. Sa napakatagal na panahong nabubuhay ang isyu, bakit imbes na maayos ay tila lumalala lamang ang kalagayan nito?

Sa madaling salita, ito ay dahil sa kawalan ng aksyon at tugon ng pamahalaan sa isyu. Kung susuriin ang nagdaang administrasyong Duterte, minsan na nating narinig ang mga argumentong “wala tayong laban” at “ayaw natin makipag-away sa Tsina dahil sa dulo, tayo rin ang talo” pero hindi ito sapat na mga rason sapagkat makatuwiran ang paglaban sa kanilang pang-aapi. Ayon kay dating Associate Justice Antonio Carpio sa isang ANC interview, ang paggamit ng laser at iba pang armas ng Tsina ay lumalabag sa dati pang nakatakdang batas ng UN Charter na nagbabawal sa paggamit ng pwersa upang mamahala sa maritime issues. Iyon pa lamang ay sapat na rason upang ipaglaban ang karapatan ng bansa sa WPS pero sa matagal na panahong namamahala ang administrasyong Duterte ay mas pinili nilang manahimik at maging pasibo.

Kung babalikan, dalawang taon matapos maupo sa pwesto ay pinirmahan ni dating pangulo Benigno Aquino III ang Administrative Order No. 29 kung saan nakasaad dito na ang kanlurang bahagi at ang nakapaloob sa EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) ng Pilipinas ay papangalanang West Philippine Sea kasama na dito ang karagatan na nakapalibot sa Kalayaan Group of Island at Bajo de Masinloc o Scarborough Shoal. Ginamit ang pagpapalit ng pangalan ng WPS upang mas lalong maigiit ang ating soberanya at masanay ang mga tao na gamitin ang terminong ito. Subalit, ayon sa isang Filipino Political Scientist na si Rommel Banlaoi, mananatiling mahina at hindi kikilalanin ng ibang bansa ang terminong West Philippine Sea hangga’t walang napapasa na Maritime Law ang Pilipinas. Kaya matapos pirmahan ang Administrative Order ay ilang insidente pa rin ng pang-aapi ang lumipas hanggang sa sumunod na taon ay nagsampa na ng arbitral case ang Pilipinas laban sa Tsina.

Ilang taon din ang itinagal ng mga hearings at trials upang maipresenta ang mga argumento ng dalawang bansa, ngunit kailanman ay hindi dumalo sa mga ito ang Tsina. Iginigiit nilang sakop ng South China Sea ang West Philippine Sea dahil sa itinutulak nilang “nine-dash-line” na ayon sa Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ay walang legal na basehan. Nilalabag din nito ang kasunduan sa ilalim ng United Nations Convention of the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS) na ang 200 nautical miles na karagatan mula sa dalampasigan ng isang bansa ang bumubuo sa EEZ nito. Noong 2016, pinarangalan ng International Arbitral Tribunal ang Pilipinas sa arbitration case laban sa Tsina kung saan nangingibabaw ang desisyon ng kaso pabor sa ating bansa.

Kitang-kita na maraming ipinatupad na kasunduan upang suportahan ang karapatan ng Pilipinas sa WPS, pero bakit nahihirapan pa rin ang mga mangingisdang Pilipino na ipagpatuloy ang kanilang kabuhayan? Isang dahilan na madalas gamitin ay ang posibilidad na magsimula ng giyera kung lalaban pabalik ang Pilipinas, ngunit mas makakabuti ba na hayaan na lamang ang Tsina na patuloy na gambalahin ang mga Pilipino kahit na tayo ang nasa tama? Mas makakaiwas ba ang Pilipinas sa giyera kung simula’t sapul ay dahas na ang ipinapakita sa atin ng kabilang panig? Binigyang-diin ni Carpio na kung susundin ng kasalukuyan at susunod pang mga administrasyon ang pamamaraan ng nagdaang administrasyon, mas lalo lang mahihikayat ang Tsina na ipagpatuloy ang pangha-harass dahil nakikita nilang hindi naman aaksyon ang gobyerno upang depensahan ang kanilang mga kababayan.

Isa lamang ang alitan sa West Philippine Sea sa mga malalaking isyu na dapat ay binibigyang pansin at prayoridad ng administrasyon, ngunit ipinipikit nila ang kanilang mga mata sa hinaing ng mga mangingisdang Pilipino. Kung ang mismong mga eksperto ng international law na ang naglalahad na maaari nating ipaglaban ang ating karapatan at soberanya, mas lalo na dapat ang sarili nating gobyerno. Kinakailangan nilang ipaalala sa Tsina na ang mga kasunduang naitatag ay may saysay at nasaksihan ito ng buong mundo. Makatarungan lang na tumindig sila laban sa pang-aapi na natatanggap ng mga Pilipino dahil kung patuloy na hahayaan ng gobyerno ang panggigipit at karahasan na ginagawa ng Tsina, lalong malalagay sa peligro ang mga karapatan at kabuhayan ng bawat mamamayan. //nina Jessiemae Cadiz, Kiel Beldia, at Kairyn Cruz

Mga Sanggunian:

Administrative Order No. 29, s. 2012 | GOVPH. (2012, September 5). Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines. https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2012/09/05/administrative-order-no-29-s-2012/

Bolledo, J. (2021, August 13). At least 3 Chinese vessels spotted in West Ph sea in August – US expert. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/nation/chinese-vessels-spotted-west-philippine-sea-august-2021/

DS Law. (n.d.). Philippines vs. China: What you need to know about the territory dispute. https://www.duranschulze.com/philippines-vs-china-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-territory-dispute/#:~:text=The%20conflict%20between%20China%20and,have%20claimed%20as%20their%20own

Fernandez, D. (2023, February 14). Ph protests Chinese Coast Guard's harassment using laser. Inquirer.net. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/210958/ph-protests-chinese-coast-guards-harassment-using-laser

Jackson, A., & France-Presse, A. (2022, October 5). In photos: Filipinos fishing on the frontline of the west philippine sea. GMA News Online. Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/847077/filipinos-fishing-on-the-frontline-of-the-west-philippine-sea/story/

Lee-Brago, P. (2022, September 5). 'Philippines should proceed with West Philippine Sea exploration without China'. Philstar.com. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2022/09/05/2207482/philippines-should-proceed-west-philippine-sea-exploration-without-china

Mangosing, F., & Santos, T. G. (2023, February 20). DFA chief: China harassment a 'daily situation' for ph. Inquirer.net. https://globalnation.inquirer.net/211222/dfa-chief-china-harassment-a-daily-situation-for-ph

Rappler. (2019, June 12). Timeline: Skirmishes, standoffs, harassment in West Philippine Sea. https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/232906-timeline-skirmishes-standoffs-harassment-west-philippine-sea/

Sanchez, R. (2016, July 12). Timeline: The Philippines-China maritime dispute. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/world/139392-timeline-west-philippine-sea-dispute/

Santos, M. (2016, July 13). Key points of arbitral tribunal’s verdict on PH-China dispute | Global News. INQUIRER.net.  https://globalnation.inquirer.net/140947/key-points-arbitral-tribunal-decision-verdict-award-philippines-china-maritime-dispute-unclos-arbitration-spratly-islands-scarborough

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