00:00The Philippine Coast Guard or PCG wants fisher folk in the West Philippine Sea
00:04to not only be protected from the constant harassment from Chinese vessels,
00:08but also have something to smile about this yuletide season. Vel Custodio tells us more.
00:16Junjun is from Negros, Oriental, but he chose to fish in the West Philippine Sea.
00:21According to him, fish catch is more abundant in the West Philippine Sea.
00:25However, the catch has been dwindling when Chinese ships came around.
00:56It used to be they could fish in Sabina Shoal,
00:59but now it is dangerous for the fishermen to sail there or in the area.
01:13Meanwhile, Arnel has been fishing in the West Philippine Sea for more than a decade,
01:18and he has witnessed the change from plenty to paltry fish catch there.
01:25Because of the presence of the Philippine Coast Guard, Filipino fishermen have more freedom
01:37to fish in the inaccessible area of the West Philippine Sea since the Chinese ships came around.
01:56For the Philippine Coast Guard,
01:59under the orders of our President, Marcos, and our Commander-in-Chief, Lonnie Hilcaban,
02:05we are ensuring that despite of our limited number of Coast Guard vests,
02:11in times when our Filipino fishermen need the presence of the Philippine Coast Guard
02:17or the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
02:23you can count on us to do our best to ensure that our Filipino fishermen are free to fish
02:35and we can help to counter the harassment of the Chinese government.
02:40This is the direction of our National Task Force West Philippine Sea,
02:44to encourage more Filipino fishermen to fish in the West Philippine Sea
02:49because their wealth in the West Philippine Sea is for the Philippines.
02:53With the month of December just begun,
02:56the Philippine Coast Guard handed out early Christmas grocery packs to Filipino fishermen.
03:01The intention of the Commander-in-Chief, every time we patrol the West Philippine Sea,
03:06not just in the Zulu Reef, but even in Bajo de Macinlo,
03:11is because Christmas is coming, to have gift packs, grocery items,
03:17at least we can give joy to the Filipino fishermen.
03:22Thank you to President Bongbong Marcos and the Philippine Coast Guard
03:26for giving help and support to our fishermen.
03:29Merry Christmas!
03:31Vel Custodio, from the National TV Network, for a new and better Philippines.
