Ilang pilipinong mangingisda, hinaras sa Bajo de Masinloc
Ilang pilipinong mangingisda, hinaras sa Bajo de Masinloc
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00:00 We will now talk to the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea, Commodore J. Tariella.
00:06 Sir, thank you for accepting our call and welcome to Rise and Shine in the Philippines.
00:13 Good morning, sir, and to all of your followers.
00:17 Okay, sir, when did this happen and how many Filipino fishermen were in Bajo de Masinloc?
00:29 Well, this video happened on social media where the Filipino fishermen were harassed by the
00:36 China Coast Guard on January 12 this year. Accordingly, there were five China Coast Guard
00:44 personnel who harassed them. Four of them were pulled out of a rubber boat. One of them
00:48 was killed. It is estimated that somewhere between 15 to 20 Filipino fishermen were in this vicinity.
00:59 But of course, we're still asking the testimonies from other
01:04 Filipino fishermen who were here during the time they were harassed.
01:09 Okay, sir, please tell us the story of our fishermen and their experiences while they were in Bajo de Masinloc.
01:25 Well, according to Mr. Jack Tabat, based on the affidavit that he signed and submitted to the
01:30 Philippine Coast Guard, the Filipino fishermen approached the Bajo de Masinloc bay because of the
01:37 low tide. It would allow them to gather seashells because there's no water. Then while they were
01:44 gathering seashells, they saw the China Coast Guard rubber boat launched from a China Coast Guard
01:51 vessel that was patrolling the area of Bajo de Masinloc and approached them. The four China Coast
01:57 Guard personnel got off the rubber boat and approached the Filipinos who were collecting
02:04 seashells. They told them to leave this vicinity and they were returned with the seashells they got.
02:17 There was even an instance that a China Coast Guard personnel touched a service boat of our
02:24 Filipino fishermen and told them to return with the seashells they got before they left.
02:33 What are the steps that the Philippine Coast Guard is taking, Commodore Hingil?
02:41 Well ma'am, the intention of our President in the past few months is to look at the presence of the
02:48 Philippine Coast Guard vessels and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources vessels here in
02:53 Bajo de Masinloc to protect and ensure the safety of our Filipino fishermen. If you remember ma'am,
03:03 in the past few months, last year, the BFAR and the Philippine Coast Guard are collecting fuel
03:12 subsidy and grocery items in the occasion that there are Filipino fishermen and the Philippine
03:20 Coast Guard vessels are patrolling here. But in this occasion, there was harassment in Bajo de
03:25 Masinloc last January 12, I have to be very honest with you, this is the occasion that the Philippine
03:32 Coast Guard and even the BFAR vessel with a very limited number of assets that we have,
03:37 it has rotational deployment. We cannot ascertain that 24/7, the Coast Guard is there and the BFAR
03:45 is there. As I said, because of our assets here, we are patrolling some areas.
03:53 Okay sir, have the fishermen from Bajo de Masinloc returned? And if ever,
04:02 do our fishermen go back to fish or get seashells? Is it natural that they would be afraid?
04:12 What can we assure our fishermen there?
04:16 Well, the fishermen who experienced harassment in the China Coast Guard have returned safely.
04:30 At the moment, we are collecting all statements of other fishermen who came last night to
04:37 collaborate on the statement of the first fishermen who uploaded videos on social media.
04:45 Second, regarding the question of what is the commitment of our government,
04:50 not just the Philippine Coast Guard, to our Filipino fishermen, of course, our commander,
04:56 Admiral Ronnie Gilgaban, is ready to comply with the order of our President to make sure that the
05:03 presence of the Philippine Coast Guard vessels are here. The same thing with the Bureau of Fisheries
05:08 and Aquatic Resources. The BFAR program to distribute fuel subsidies and grocery items
05:16 to Filipino fishermen who are fishing in BDM or Scarborough Shoal, they will continue to do so
05:23 for the next few months. As I said, there are only instances that there are times when there is no
05:35 Coast Guard vessel and BFAR vessel here because it has to go through rotation. For example,
05:40 for a few days, Manila or Subic will return and then the Philippine Coast Guard and BFAR vessels
05:48 will be distributed. Even so, the Filipino fishermen are hopeful that our national government,
05:57 under the order of our President, will ensure and protect the rights of our Filipino fishermen.
06:06 Okay sir. You said that in that case, there was no PCG and BFAR when the incident happened.
06:14 If the presence of the PCG is there, will the China Coast Guard still do this to our fishermen?
06:24 Well I believe sir, things could have been different. We have proven in the
06:31 recent time that we patrolled Bajo de Masinlo, which is very unusual to harass and take catches
06:41 or even to return to them the seashells they gathered. In the recent times, since we started
06:48 exposing illegal actions of the Chinese Coast Guard, we have not received reports that while
06:58 the Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources is patrolling the area of Bajo
07:03 de Masinlo, there are Filipino fishermen being harassed. So a follow up to that Commodore and
07:11 Jay. You said that we are having a rotational deployment. So can we do something so that
07:20 our PCG and BFAR are always there? Can we provide more resources to our group so that we can avoid
07:31 this incident, Commodore Terjela? Well I don't want to make a very big promise
07:39 that we can be able to sustain such a commitment 24/7. As you're aware ma'am, the Philippine Coast
07:49 Guard only has like 10 44-meter vessels and the entire West Philippine Sea is so vast. Not to
07:55 mention the northern territories and also the eastern seaboard and of course the southern
08:01 waters of Mindanao. We just have to optimize what we have. But of course I agree with you ma'am.
08:10 We need to do something to make sure that there's no vacuum. That there's no presence of the National
08:19 Government. I think we need to coordinate our presence with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
08:25 Resources. For those instances where there's no Coast Guard presence here, I think the BFAR vessel
08:34 can supplement the instances where we're not here. At the same time, for BFAR vessels, if they're not
08:41 here, because they're patrolling in other areas, the Philippine Coast Guard can also take our turn
08:48 to patrol the BDF. So that may be a possibility. Again, the guidance of the presence still remains.
08:57 The intention of our President is to protect the rights of our fishermen.
09:03 With that, thank you very much for your time here on Rise in Giant Philippines. Commodore Jay
09:09 Tariella is the spokesperson of the Philippine Coast Guard for the West Philippine Sea. Thank you sir.
09:14 Thank you very much.