Chinese cutting of payaw BFAR installed in WPS warrants diplomatic protest — Tolentino
THE reported cutting by the Chinese of payaw (fish aggregating device), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) installed to help Filipino fisherfolks in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) warrants a diplomatic protest, according to Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino in a press conference on Thursday.
“If that is true (Chinese cutting the payaw), that’s another ground for filing a diplomatic protest. But just the same, it must not deter BFAR from putting up more payaw in the future. Let us install it again,” Tolentino said in mixed Tagalog and English as he responded to the reporter’s query.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported in 2023 that the Philippines has already filed 444 diplomatic protests against Chinese illegal activities in the WPS since 2020 without China’s action.
“We can file a case against an international body relative to “theft” because it’s like they have stolen our property. Let us continue what we are doing now,” Tolentino continued in his assertion of what the Philippines can do in this situation.
He added that the Chinese should return the payaw they cut and removed based on the inventory of how many were lost.
Tolentino surmised that China could have been agitated by the ongoing PH-US Balikatan exercises in the WPS and the Philippines’ continuous upgrade of alliances with other countries.
He revealed that representatives from 14 countries, including Japan, South Korea, India, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Germany, and New Zealand, are currently observing the PH-US Balikatan.
Responding to the Chinese Embassy’s statement warning the Philippines to stop provocative actions in the WPS, Tolentino asserted that no country can dictate to the Philippines what it does in its territory.
“How can one country dictate to another country what to do? We can do whatever we want to do in accordance with international law. That’s an exercise of sovereignty,” he said.
Despite the Chinese Embassy declaring the Balikatan a provocative action, Tolentino clarified that the Philippines had been doing this since the 1990s, and the Mutual Defense Agreement with the US was signed in 1951.
“They (Chinese) cannot do anything about it. It is our right. They can also conduct military exercises in their territory. They must not be provoked and threatened because we are just exercising our rights, which are valid under international law,” he said.
