Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte to declare no-fishing zone for all at disputed Scarborough Shoal
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has decided to issue a formal order declaring a sprawling lagoon in a disputed South China Sea shoal a maritime sanctuary where Filipinos and Chinese will be prohibited from fishing, officials said in a statement on Monday.
You can go in but ... don’t fish because it’s a maritime sanctuary
National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jnr. said Duterte relayed his plan to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a meeting on the sidelines of the just-concluded Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Peru. Esperon and other Philippine cabinet officials present at the meeting said Xi did not say whether he agreed to Duterte’s plan in the Scarborough Shoal.
Both governments have also mutually suspected each other of harbouring plans to erect concrete structures in the Scarborough’s shallow lagoon to cement their territorial claims.
If Duterte’s plan proceeds, Filipino, Chinese and other fishermen would only be allowed to fish in the deeper waters just outside Scarborough, which has a vast triangular-shaped lagoon naturally fenced by coral outcrops with an entryway watched by Chinese coast guard personnel.
“You can go in but ... don’t fish because it’s a maritime sanctuary,” Duterte’s Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said.
After taking control of Scarborough, which lies off the northwestern Philippines, Chinese coast guard personnel shooed away Filipino fishermen, at times with the use of water cannons or by deploying armed personnel on speed boats to chase them off.
