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Thursday, March 28, 2024

PH verifying ‘harassment’ in WPS

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Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday ordered the military to validate a report of Kalayaan Mayor Roberto del Mundo who claimed that Filipino fishermen were being harassed by the Chinese in a sandbar near Pag-asa Island, the largest Philippine-occupied feature in the Kalayaan Island Group.

“Based on the initial communication from the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Western Command, there has been no substantiated report from our units on the ground confirming Mayor Del Mundo’s statement,” Defense department spokesman Arsenio Andolong said in a statement Wednesday.

“The AFP, through the Naval Forces West under Wescom, will nonetheless continuously validate and report any information relevant to Mayor Del Mundo’s claims.”

Andolong said the area referred to by Del Mundo was a traditional fishing ground for the Philippines and other countries including China and Vietnam.

According to Wescom, they have been encouraging fishermen from Pag-asa to continue their activities since it has been observed that they have not been fishing in the vicinity of the sandbar even before the Chinese fishing vessels were sighted in the area,” Andolong said. 

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“A sheltered port in Pag-asa is currently being constructed to help our fishermen.

Del Mundo on Tuesday claimed that around 50 Chinese vessels were allegedly sailing near Pag-asa Island and intimidating Filipino fishermen.

He said the Chinese were shooing away the Filipinos from Sandy Cay, a group of sandbars between Pag-asa Island and China’s artificial island in Subi Reef.

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