MASINLOC: Seabed a hotbed of controversy for Philippines, China

Romeo Taneo, right, 39, a fisherman in Masinloc, discusses his loss of income because of the Chinese presence at Scarborough Shoal. (Photo: Thomas Maresca)

China has been dispatching ships and aircraft to enforce its ownership of the South China Sea, infuriating Asian nations whose coastlines also approach the sea.

MASINLOC, Philippines -- Romeo Taneo, 39, has been going to Scarborough Shoal for as long as he can remember.

The rich schools of fish such as tuna found along the chain of reefs and rocks 124 miles from shore have been fished by the people of this Philippine town for centuries. But the 2,000 fishermen of Masinloc haven't gone there in months, not since Chinese vessels arrived to claim the shoal for China even though its coastline is 500 miles away.

"We can't fish there anymore," Taneo said. "Whenever we go near, the Chinese chase us away."

China has essentially said it wants to chase every nation from the South China Sea. It has laid claim to 1 million square miles of the sea and in recent months has been dispatching ships and aircraft to enforce its ownership, infuriating Asian nations whose coastlines also approach the sea.

It's not just for the rich sources of fish that China and others are battling. The World Bank has estimated that the seabed contains huge deposits of oil and natural gas. The sea is a major route for the world's cargo (50% of global oil tankers pass through it). As Asia's economies and populations grow, the food source and the energy resources of the South China Sea will become even more important.

Confrontations that have already taken place between China and its neighbors over the sea could escalate and lead to war,observers of the situation say.

"The situation is quite worrying and we're watching it closely," said Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, China and Northeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. "The continuing presence of claimants' law enforcement and fishing vessels in disputed waters are opportunities for skirmishes that may bring countries down a path they didn't intend."

The shoal, a triangle of rocks about 35 miles around, is one of a number of outcroppings and islands in the South China Sea that the People's Republic of China says the Chinese discovered and claimed long ago. Scarborough is named for a British tea ship wrecked on its rocks in 1784 with no survivors.

In July, China proclaimed the creation of a Sansha, a new city on tiny Yongxing Island that would oversee jurisdiction of the Paracel, Spratly and Macclesfield Bank island groups scattered throughout the sea. In November, China issued passports with a map of China that included about 80% of the South China Sea.

Today it continues to protect Chinese fishing boats that fish shoal waters, even though the shoal is well within the Philippines' a 200-mile zone that all coastal nations can claim as exclusively theirs according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Taiwan and the Philippines have claims to parts of the sea, and some have complained to the United Nations and the USA for help in dealing with China's ownership announcement.

Tensions were high in April when the Philippines tried to act against China. Chinese vessels prevented a Philippine naval warship from pushing out Chinese fishing boats accused of poaching protected species such as sea turtles. Eventually both fleets agreed to go home. but Chinese marine surveillance vessels soon returned and remain. The vessels went as far as to rope off the entrance to Scarborough lagoon.

Caught in the geopolitical standoff are fishermen up and down Zambales, a province on the west coast of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.

"We're afraid to go to Scarborough now," said Francis Alaras, who has been fishing for 15 years out of Subic Bay. "Even the Coast Guard is afraid to go there."

Taneo said he used to take in $250 to $500 in a good week catching grouper, Spanish mackerel and tropical aquarium fish around Scarborough. Now he might earn $50 in waters nearer the coast. Some fishermen journey several extra hours to avoid the Chinese-occupied area, burning additional fuel and squeezing their ability to make a profit.

What puzzles many in Masinloc is the suddenness of the change. Taneo said fishermen from several countries used to fish at Scarborough without incident, at times even boarding each other's vessels to swap local delicacies and liquor.

"Why now?" he said.

Harry Roque Jr., a professor of law at the University of the Philippines, urged Manila to bring the Scarborough case before the U.N.'s International Tribunal on Law of the Sea, which could issue a binding provisional decision. China and the Philippines are both signatories to the treaty.

"It would be the perfect way to defuse the tension if there is in fact a provisional measure," Roque said. "Of course there's no guarantee China will comply with it, but I think it's very clear that in modern history no state wants to be branded a violator of international law."

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario has also called for international arbitration in the Scarborough standoff.

"While we are at a disadvantage in terms of our resources and capabilities, it is our belief that international law is the great equalizer and that right is might," he said.

A trader works at Subic Fish Port at dawn in Subic Bay, Philippines.(Photo: Thomas Maresca)

China, however, has said it would not accept an international judgment and will only resolve the matter in one-on-one talks with individual countries, which its smaller neighbor the Philippines says puts it at a severe disadvantage.

The conflict has gotten the Philippines to turn for help to a former hated enemy, Japan, whose occupation of the Philippines during World War II is not forgotten here. Last week Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida pledged 10 patrol ships and communications equipment for the Philippines coast guard, according to media reports. Japan is fending off similar territorial claims that China his pressing over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

The United States has stayed neutral in the territorial disputes, saying only that they should be resolved through negotiation. The USA and the Philippines held discussions in December that del Rosario says should result in an increased naval rotational presence in the Philippines that "will serve to guarantee peace and stability in the region."

Murray Hiebert, deputy director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says U.S. interests lie most clearly lie in maintaining the unrestricted movement of trade in the South China Sea.

"Freedom of navigation is absolutely critical," he said. "A whole lot of oil and iPads move through there."

China shows little sign of backing down, however.

In November, the Chinese province of Hainan said it police vessels may board and search foreign ships that "illegally" enter Chinese waters.

"If China persists in its view that (the South China Sea) is a Chinese lake, then we're headed for conflict," Roque said. "And I think every single nation on earth that wants to use the seas will have an interest in it."

For now, solutions seem scarce. Some observers suggested that joint development of fishing and hydrocarbons in disputed areas is a reasonable way forward. But the charged environment is making cooperation increasingly difficult.

"If the political will were present, (joint development) would be possible," said Robert Beckman, director of the Center for International Law at National University of Singapore. "However, under the present political climate, it seems unlikely."

In Masinloc, the fishermen are looking to the future with a characteristically Filipino blend of fatalism and optimism. Masinloc's fishery officer, Jerry Escape, says people are looking at other ways to earn a living, such as establishing more fish hatcheries to increase fish stocks closer to shore and promote tourism of its pristine areas.

"We will find a way," he said. "We are Filipinos. That is what we do." (http://usat.ly/10hZOcB)

USA TODAY

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Philippines could lose almost 50% of the Territory in continuing Panatag Shoal Stand-off

 

Losing almost 50% of Philippines Territory to China

It is another heart nauseating Monday to realize that we are in the BRINK of LOSING ALMOST HALF OF OUR PHILIPPINE TERRITORY TO CHINA for the continuing Standoff between the Philippines and China in our territory in Panatag Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) in Zambales Province.

Our Government is already out of option to solve the Stand-off so it's our turn Citizens of the Philippines to Stand for our country. If Government to government could not solve the issue, then I think WE people of the Philippines might.

I am a bit embarrassed also with the comments of Vietnamese in their Vietnamese websites saying "that we Filipinos" are "LOUSY COWARD" in protecting our Philippine territory that china won a control over the Panatag shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) without even a single outburst of bullets.

It is a very humiliating words of Vietnamese towards us but it seems that they are right for those who believe that Vietnamese are right but for those who believe that we are NOT coward, then step forward and prove it without initiating trouble but a peaceful unity to oust the Chinese occupancy in our territory.

It's already 2 areas in our country is are under control of China. 1 is in the Panganiban Reef or Mischief Reef of 75 Miles from Puerto Princesa City in Palawan and now the Panatag shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal).

My Fellow Citizens, we already lost our Dignity as "Filipino" because we could not defend our land. We need to step up forward for a rebound to be respected because a nation could NOT be called as a sovereign nation if it has no capability to defend its territory. Do we have a capability to defend our territory? YES we have millions of people to defend this land.

I am NOT calling for war here but calling the people to unite and let's have a brainstorming to form a peaceful strategy to drive away the invading china. We don't need to engage any war here because WAR is a GAME of losers but it's the only last options of a blind to bite and eat the mighty lion alive when pushed in a deadlock corner. We could not also afford to see any casualties while there is still a remaining strategy in which the United Nations could implement the International law and sanction the violating countries. Why don't we oust the United Nations' office in Manila if it is already rusted and will not function anymore? It is useless for them to be there if they created a law and they could not implement it.  

7,107 Islands with only few are occupied

I think the world, the neighboring countries, and WE Citizen of this country must have to understand that the Philippines is comprised of more than 7,100 Islands which many are not yet populated because it could not sustain life as many of those islands are out of fresh waters.

I hope also the invading neighbors MUST respect the fact that the Philippines of thousands of islands are not the same with the geographic structure of their country.

Their argument of "uninhabited islands" is WRONG because even in thousands of islands of different provinces in the Philippines, we still have few thousand of uninhabited islands because of the absence of fresh waters. Then does it mean that because we did not populate those islands in our different provinces then the neighboring countries have the rights to occupy and control them?

The case of the (Spratly Islands) Kalayaan Group of Islands in the Province of Palawan and the Panatag Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc / Scarborough Shoal) of the Province of Zambales are common cases in the other provinces of the Philippines that many islands and islets remained uninhabited until this time because of the absence of  the fresh waters.

The issue of "Uninhabited Islands" is not applicable to the Philippines but "Proximity and 200 Nautical Miles Exclusive Economic Zone" is the most appropriate to apply.

2000 un-armed Explorer

I am now even thinking to form a legion of explorer for at least 2 thousand un-armed patriots to clear the Panatag Shoal.

If the Government to Government could not solve the problems then why don't we allow our locals of Zambales to Fish and to stay inside the Shoal, then clean the messed of the Chinese invaders and monitor them there?

Why the government thinks that it could only escalate further the situation if we will send or we will allow the civilians to go there and to fish there as their usual daily activities before china creates trouble in the area?

If we could have at least 2,000 un-armed people, do you think that there are soldiers will kill them? They are civilians. If anyone will slay the un-armed civilians then it is the job of the United Nations to punish the criminals if this country's law is toothless to bite the criminals.

The escalation will further escalate if we will just sleep in our room and wait for nothing to happen then will wake up tomorrow with new flag, new language and new characters in every walls.

This triggers me a doubt about the rumor of "CONSPIRACY" in the Panatag Stand-off that could be true. The questions are what's conspiracy? Who are conspiring? Who are involved?

The Malaya publication "Chinese 'occupation' of Bajo de Masinloc could reduce PH territorial waters by 38 percent"

 In Malaya Business Insights article Published on Monday, 21 January 2013, Written by ELLEN TORDESILLAS - VERA Files, this article would really awake us from a deep sleep that if we will keep sleeping, we would be losing our territory anytime soon.

MALAYA: The Philippines is at a loss over China's declaration its ships will stay permanently in Bajo de Masinloc, a declaration some experts say could lead to the Philippines losing 38 percent of its territorial waters.

Bajo de Masinloc, a triangular-shaped coral reef formation that has several rocks encircling a lagoon, is located 124 nautical miles west of Masinloc town in Zambales in the northwestern part of the Philippines.

"The shoal is under virtual occupation by China," said former foreign undersecretary and former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations Lauro Baja.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario confirmed this, saying, "In a subministerial consultation, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Fu Ying had said to our people that China's presence was permanent and they had no intention of withdrawing their ships from the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc."

The National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) says Bajo de Masinloc has an area of about 120 square kilometers. It is also referred to as Panatag (calm in Pilipino) by fishermen who seek refuge in the area during stormy weather.

Its international name is Scarborough shoal after the tea-carrying British boat Scarborough which sank in the vicinity in 1784. China also claims ownership of the shoal which is 467 nautical miles away from its mainland, and refers to it as Huangyan Island.

Republic Act 9522, which defines the country's archipelagic baseline, includes Bajo de Masinloc as part of Philippine territory. The law classifies it as a regime of islands under Art. 121 of the Law of the Sea Convention (LOSC), which means it generates its own territorial sea, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

Under UNCLOS, "an island is a naturally formed area of land, surrounded by water, which is above water at high tide."

An island generates its own maritime regimes, which are 12 nautical miles (nm) for territorial sea, 24 nm for contiguous zone, 200 nm for EEZ and 200 nm continental shelf.

Under this definition, the Chinese claim over Baja de Masinloc means the Philippines risks losing not only the 120-square-kilometer strategically vital reef formation but also some 494,000 square kilometers EEZ, representing 38 per cent of the country's EEZ.

One of the Philippines' options to protest the Chinese encroachment is going to the United Nations International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the arbitration arm of UNCLOS, of which the Philippines and China are signatories.

Legal experts say the Philippines can ask the ITLOS, which does not deal with territorial disputes, to declare Bajo de Masinloc as a rock rather than an island.

UNCLOS said, "Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf."

Retired Philippine Navy Commodore Rex Robles, who has been to the area a few times for gunnery practice, declares that "Panatag shoal is a rock."

"It cannot support human life. It is not an island," he concludes.

Lawyer Romel Bagares, executive director of Center for International Law (Philippines), said RA 9522 "does not actually specify whether Bajo de Masinloc consists just of uninhabitable rocks or is capable of economic life pursuant to Art 121 of the UNCLOS. This could be one way of arguing ITLOS has jurisdiction, especially as to the interpretation of provisions. It's a pragmatic approach, no doubt."

What is obvious, Bagares said, is that RA 9522 assumes that the shoal is part of Philippine territory in the fullest sense of the term.

Del Rosario said, "To the extent that their three ships are within our exclusive economic zone, this is in gross violation of the DOC and UNCLOS."

DOC is the Declaration of Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea signed in 2002 by members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, four of them part claimants to islands in the South China Sea, and China. UNCLOS is the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Baja said, "When our ships withdrew from Bajo de Masinloc in June and now (we) could not access the area, the shoal became under virtual occupation by China. "

Baja, who drafted the DOC with Malaysia's Abdul Kadir, also said Chinese occupation of the disputed shoal has changed the status quo, contrary to the DOC.

Baja said China is exercising what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) calls "effectivités."

"This is the basis of the Court's decision on the Ligatan Sipadan case where the court awarded the area to Malaysia over Indonesia. Also the same principle in the case between Chile and Peru and between Nicaragua and Guatemala," he said.

Baja said, "We must act and interact before we lose the territory by default and/or estoppel."

Seven months after China's occupation of Bajo de Masinloc, the Philippines is still "reviewing" its options.

Asked about the Philippines' response to China's declaration it has no intentions of pulling out their ships from Panatag shoal, Del Rosario said, "We are reviewing all our options in accordance with our three track approach encompassing the political, legal and diplomatic means."

President   Aquino   has refused to discuss publicly the Philippine efforts on Bajo de Masinloc because he said doing so would be "giving the other side a preview of everything that we will do."

He said, though, in October at a forum at the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines that the matter "is still being studied by our consultants."

Experts point to two options available to the Philippines: the military option—which is not really an option considering the inferior state of the Philippine Navy compared with China's naval might—and the legal option.

 ***

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for "true.")

This is Prince Dan We again, and I am thankful for all the followers in this site. I hope that my call for unity would be heard and I hope when you vandal the wall of this site for your comments, you will take responsible of your words, and avoid "fighting" because we are here for unity not destruction. 

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