The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) on Sunday called on the government to provide protection to Filipino fishermen in the face of China’s aggressive behavior in the disputed maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea.
“Filipino fishermen have the legal right to go fishing within the 200 miles Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone; while the Philippine government is duty-bound to protect our fishermen inside this zone,” the IBP said in a statement.
The call was made a day after the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) reported that a Chinese coast guard vessel tried to block the rescue of Filipino fishermen whose boat exploded 17 nautical miles off Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) on Saturday.
The PCG said that two China Coast Guard vessels tried to prevent BRP Sindangan from conducting a rescue operation even after they were informed of the emergency.
Rear Admiral Armando Balilo, spokesman of the PCG, however, said that the vessel was able to rescue the fisherman and tow the half-submerged boat toward Subic in Zambales .
The eight rescued fishermen were given food, and drinking water. Two were given first aid and medication due to second to third-degree burns suffered in the explosion.
The IBP stressed that it stands with Filipino fishermen “who are only exercising their right to a livelihood inside our own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).”
“The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also supports the legitimate stand of the Philippine government in asserting our country’s lawful and sovereign rights over the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea,” it stressed.
It reminded that both the Philippines and China are signatories of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) which in 1982 granted coastal states sovereign rights over their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), extending up to 200 nautical miles from their baselines.
The IBP further said that the EEZ includes the Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, which is 120 miles from Zambales and 196 miles from Palawan.
The government has stationed troops aboard the BRP Sierra Madre which was intentionally run aground in 1999 to become an outpost.
The IBP said the country’s territorial claims was fortified when the Permanent Court of Arbitration issued a 2016 decision confirming that the Philippines has sovereign rights over its 200 miles EEZ in the WPS.
Prior to the UNCLOS, the IBP said the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which concluded the Spanish-American War, “clearly delineated the territorial boundaries of the Philippine archipelago.”
“Further reinforcing this, the Spanish-US Treaty of Washington in 1900 supplemented the Treaty of Paris by clarifying and affirming the cession of additional islands to the United States, as part of Philippine territory,” it added.
When the Philippines gained independence, the IBP said “all these islands covered by the Treaty of Paris and Treaty of Washington that form part of the Philippine archipelago became part of our country’s territory.”
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline: “IBP speaks up on West Philippine Sea, urges government to protect Filipino fishermen”