00:00The Philippines drawing a line of the sand over China's nature reserve plan.
00:04Government says it won't let China overstep the mark.
00:07Fishermen worried they'll be left out in the cold if plan moves forward.
00:11Meanwhile, authorities vow to protect the country's sovereignty and fishing rights at all costs.
00:17Patrick De Asus tells us more.
00:21China's declaration of establishing a nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal must be taken seriously.
00:28According to Retard Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, China had previously used this kind of deception.
00:35In the artificial islands they now occupy in the West Philippine Sea such as Fiery Cross or Kagitingan Reef
00:42where they initially only built a weather station and Mischief or Panganiban Reef which was originally just a fisherman's shelter.
00:50But now, these have actually become military bases and Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masidluc would be a crucial asset for China
00:59in controlling the entire South China Sea including the West Philippine Sea.
01:05There is a hole on the northeast area, the Scarborough Shoal area, they don't have an air naval base.
01:13Their fighter jets cannot operate in that area.
01:16Cruise missiles cannot be installed in that area.
01:19But once they put up an air naval base, on Scarborough Shoal they will have a triangle of air naval bases
01:28on the Paracels, the Spratlys, and Scarborough Shoal so they have a full coverage of the South China Sea.
01:37For another expert, China's plan to establish a nature reserve in Scarborough Shoal would have a huge impact on Filipino fishermen
01:46who rely on the area for their livelihood.
01:49Kapag nagkaroon ng nature reserve, kasi unang-una kapag nagkaroon ng nature reserve,
01:54dinideprive mo yung Pilipino na makakuha, mangisda doon sa Scarborough Shoal.
02:00Dapat natin intindihin na ang Scarborough Shoal ay nabuo para maging traditional fishing ground.
02:07Ibig sabihin, kahit sino ang pwedeng mangisda dyan, hindi pwede isang bansa lamang yung dominante dito.
02:16Kinakailangan ipaalam natin sa buong mundo na dito nagumpisa lahat ng pakikipaka natin, pakikipaglaban natin sa China.
02:24The government will not allow the building of structures in Scarborough Shoal.
02:29National Security Advisor Eduardo Año also reminded China of the agreement among concerned nations on unoccupied features in the South China Sea.
02:39If you recall, we have the declaration of conduct of parties.
02:45And it's very, very clear in the provision that there will be no occupation of unoccupied features.
02:54So putting structure and people there is tantamount to occupation. And we will not allow that.
03:00Meanwhile, Chinese vessels continue their harassment most recently before vessels fell victim to water cannon attacks.
03:09A PLA Navy warship also attempted to intimidate by announcing live fire exercises to scare Filipino fishermen.
03:17Despite China's increasingly aggressive activities, the National Security Council stressed the importance of peaceful means in protecting the Philippines' rights and sovereignty.
03:30This includes not deploying Philippine warships in the operations of the Philippine Coast Guard and BIFAR.
03:36We will not play to the narrative of China. This is what they want for us to react, overreact, and then they can have the justification to use their PLA and practically turn the narrative around against us.
03:56So we will not play to that kind of ploy. We continue to follow our policy. We don't want to escalate.
04:05Meanwhile, a forum discussed the importance of cooperation between European and Indo-Pacific countries in facing modern security challenges.
04:16Patrick De Jesus from the National TV for a New and Better Philippines.
