A US company whose satellite images show Chinese ships dumping waste in the West Philippine Sea on Thursday urged the government to validate its findings, even as lawmakers called for a congressional investigation into the reports.
“My message to the government of the Philippines is: verify our findings, do your best to verify the findings,” said Simularity founder and CEO Liz Derr.
“We’ve done this from space because that’s really all anybody can do right now because the area is really militarized but I wholeheartedly encourage the government to validate our findings, question our findings, understand the science and see for themselves,” she said at a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
Lawmakers, meanwhile, sought a congressional inquiry into the supposed dumping of human waste and sewage by Chinese vessels in some parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In House Resolution 1961, the Makabayan Bloc led by Rep. Arlene Brosas of Gabriela asked the House committee on aquaculture and fisheries and committee on foreign affairs to conduct a probe into the matter even as the group denounced such an action.
They said the dumping of human waste and sewage destroys the reefs and marine life in that part of the country’s territory.
“This destruction could lead to a decrease in food supply, which may result in global hunger as the West Philippine Sea is a source of food for migratory fish,” they said.
Deputy Speaker Eddie Villanueva of Cibac party-list group denounced a Chinese statement that the 2016 Hague ruling that upheld the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea as only a piece of “waste of paper.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian made that remark at a press briefing on the 5th anniversary of the Hague ruling that declared that China’s nine-dash-line claim has no historic or legal basis and that China has no right to claim the disputed WPS.
Senator Francis Pangilinan on Thursday asked the committee on agriculture, food, and agrarian reform to probe the plight of Filipino fishermen who were unable to fish in the WPS.
In his resolution, Pangilinan noted that “the protection of the rights and livelihood of our fisherfolk, especially subsistence fishers, and ensuring food security are urgent tasks.”
He called on government to commit, under any circumstance, in asserting the country’s and its people’s rights and enforce the arbitral ruling that rejects China’s expansive claims over the resources and area covered by its nine-dash line that encroaches on the maritime entitlement of other states, including the Philippines’ EEZ and extended continental shelf.
“The government must stand up to China’s aggression, with the welfare of our people at the forefront of every policy and decision,” he said.
But Palace spokesman Harry Roque disputed reports that fishermen were being harassed and said he would make a trip to Scarborough Shoal.
“Can I ask the undersecretary to arrange our trip to Bajo de Masinloc and Kalayaan? I’ve been wanting to go there for so long,” Roque said in a Palace briefing.
Roque said there is no need to challenge him to go to Scarborough Shoal because he really intends to go there before President Duterte’s term ends.
“I hope this will happen. I will go there because I want to, not because I’m being challenged by whoever,” he said.
A Filipino fisherman, identified as Bobby Roldan, challenged Roque to join them on a trip to the shoal to witness how Filipino fishermen would be barred from entering their traditional fishing ground.
“That way, the patrolling Chinese Coast Guard might recognize his authority and allow us to fish there,” Roldan said.
However, Roque insisted there is no need to dare him because he really wanted to go in the area.
The Palace official also again refuted reports that Filipino fishermen were being blocked from fishing in Scarborough Shoal.
“We saw the photos the coast guard took just yesterday. I think it’s clear that our fishermen can continue their livelihoods. Our Philippine Coast Guard is there if there would be any trouble,” he added.
Roque also brushed aside retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio’s claim that President Rodrigo Duterte’s inaction on China’s incursions into the WPS is an impeachable offense.
Roque said Carpio is free to file an impeachment complaint against Duterte if the retired magistrate believes that allowing Chinese nationals to fish in WPS could be considered grounds for impeachment.
“Go ahead, impeach him if you can,” Roque told Carpio.
Roque issued the statement after Carpio said Duterte should be impeached for violating the 1987 Constitution when he allowed Chinese fishermen to fish in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Carpio should blame the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) instead of Duterte because it ruled that fishermen from the Philippines and China, as well as from other countries that had traditional fishing rights at Scarborough Shoal, can still fish in the area, Roque said.
Scarborough Shoal is a triangle-shaped coral reef situated 124 nautical miles off Zambales.
The Philippines lost Scarborough Shoal to China after Chinese vessels blocked Filipino fishermen from the shoal.
The stand-off prompted the Philippines to file a case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague.
On July 12, 2016, the PCA ruled in favor of the Philippines’ petition, saying China has no legal basis to assert its supposedly historic rights over nearly the entire WPS, also known as the South China Sea.