By Henry Empeño | July 22, 2022

MASINLOC, Zambales — While President Marcos vowed that the Philippines will continue asserting its rights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), fishermen here said the presidential pronouncement lacked much significance to those who can no longer fish at Bajo de Masinloc, or Scarborough Shoal, due to the presence of the Chinese there.

“We are not satisfied with what the President said; in fact, we were disappointed,” said Leonardo Cuaresma, president of the New Masinloc Fishermen’s Association (NMFA).

“Initially, we were happy that local fishermen were recognized among the frontliners who sacrifice to guard and protect the WPS, but those of us who have been shooed away from Scarborough, we were watching and we were not happy about it,” he told BusinessMirror in the Zambal dialect on Monday.

Cuaresma and some 20 other members of the NMFA on Monday watched the live broadcast on television of President Marcos’s third State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasan Pambansa, wherein the Chief Executive stressed the country’s sovereignty over the WPS.

“In the face of challenges to our territorial sovereignty, we will assert our rights and interests in the same fair and pacific way that we have always done,” Marcos said.

“Ang West Philippine Sea ay hindi kathang-isip lang natin. Ito ay atin. At ito ay mananatiling atin, hangga’t nag-aalab ang diwa ng ating mahal na bansang Pilipinas (The West Philippine Sea is not just a figment of our imagination. It is ours. And it will remain ours as long our fervor burns for our beloved country the Philippines),” Marcos added.

But Cuaresma said that Zambales fishermen, including commercial fishers who used to be able to fish in Bajo de Masinloc, were not impressed, as they were awaiting Marcos to identify concrete programs to sustain the livelihood of displaced fishermen.

“Our situation is already critical,” Cuaresma pointed out. “We cannot go as far as 14 nautical miles of Bajo de Masinloc. The Chinese drive us away.”

He added that while it is still tolerable for fishermen plying their trade elsewhere in the WPS, locals have been virtually locked out of the Scarborough Shoal, which is a traditional fishing ground for Zambaleños, following the June 16 enforcement by the Chinese of a “no-trespassing” policy at the South China Sea.

In his SONA, President Marcos stressed that the Philippines would find ways to de-escalate tensions in contested areas with other claimant nations without compromising the country’s position and principles.

He also gave the assurance that the government would continue beefing up its defenses and “strengthen our defense posture, both through developing self-reliance and through partnerships with like-minded states.”

Cuaresma said, however, that for local fishermen, it is also necessary to look at the economic plight of fishermen currently displaced by the territorial conflict at the WPS.

“Small fishermen are already losing their livelihood. Even the moneyed operators who own fleets of deep-sea fishing vessels are losing money because they cannot access their payao (fish aggregating devices) that were installed within 10 miles of Scarborough,” Cuaresma said.

“The President said that fishermen will be given fish fry and some other assistance. That is not what we need,” he lamented. 