Malacañang on Monday said the government will not allow any harassment of Filipinos after the Chinese Coast Guard drove away a local television crew from Panatag Shoal, stressing the Department of Foreign Affairs would look into the incident.
READ: Philippines called off Scarborough naval station
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the government will first find out what exactly happened during the encounter and determine if China has a policy of prohibiting journalists from conducting interviews in the area.
“First, we have to validate what happened there… I said, is it the policy of China to prohibit media men from going there or not? We don’t know that yet,” said Panelo in a Palace press briefing.
The spokesman urged the GMA-7 television crew that accompanied fishermen to Panatag to lodge a complaint so the government can act “appropriately” as the DFA validates the incident with China.
“We have to validate whether or not [it’s the policy of China to deny journalists from covering the area] because according to that [Chinese] Coast Guard, it was prohibited. So that’s why I told them, you have to give us a letter-complaint, expressing your concern so that we can act appropriately,” Panelo said.
“We will refer your complaint to the DFA, and the DFA will write the government of China whether or not there is such a policy,” he added.
Asked if the incident was a violation of Philippine rights, given that Panatag Shoal is within the country’s exclusive economic zone, Panelo said: “We don’t know it yet. Maybe it was just the [Chinese] Coast Guard making their own threats.”
The spokesman, who is also the President’s chief legal adviser, stressed that the Duterte administration will not allow anyone to harass Filipinos anywhere.
“We will not allow anyone to harass us in any place, whether in our country or their country,” Panelo said.
“Anything that is violative of our rights as a nation, anything that violates our citizens, we will always find it objectionable,” he added.
Panelo revealed that he texted Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua to find out about the incident.
The ambassador, Panelo said, only gave him a “general” reply, telling him about the existing diplomatic process where the DFA files a formal communication to the Chinese government.
Earlier this month, GMA’s “Reporter’s Notebook” TV crew sailed with local fishermen toward Panatag Shoal, located within the country’s 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone, to film the lives of the fishermen in the area since the Chinese started occupying the reefs.
Two Chinese coast guard boats, however, stopped the crew from taking videos, conducting interviews, and navigating further, saying the Filipinos “were in China’s territory.”
The Chinese told the GMA crew to leave China’s “sea area,” stating they must get an official authorization from Beijing to conduct an interview in the area.
The crew then sailed back to the shores of Zambales province and reported the encounter on their TV program.
READ: China to throw CG ‘bad apples’ into sea—envoy