Gov’t to open new fishing areas

 News
May 282013
 

3:37 am | Wednesday, May 29th, 2013

MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino administration will soon identify “alternative fishing grounds” for Filipino fishermen so as not to exacerbate tensions in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

At the same time, the government will endeavor to beef up its maritime assets to establish “a minimum credible defense,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte told a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

Valte explained that the government would continue to pursue its “nonengagement policy” on the issue of the disputed waters of the West Philippine Sea, in answer to a question about the presence of a fleet of Chinese fishing boats, accompanied by patrol vessels, at Ayungin Shoal (Second Thomas Reef).

On May 10, the Philippines protested the presence of the Chinese boats since Ayungin lies 196 kilometers from Palawan province, and thus well within the Philippines’ 370-km exclusive economic zone.

According to Valte, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has designated a particular area to be opened as an alternative fishing ground for Filipino fishermen.—Michael Lim Ubac

12 Chinese seamen charged

 News
Apr 102013
 
12 Chinese seamen charged

By Redempto D. Anda Inquirer Southern Luzon 10:11 pm | Wednesday, April 10th, 2013 PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Philippines—The 12 Chinese nationals whose boat got stuck in the Tubbataha Reefs on Monday night were slapped with charges of poaching and other violations of the marine park’s rules. They were detained at the provincial jail facility here following inquest proceedings on Tuesday afternoon. The Chinese, all crew members of what was reported as a 48-by-8-meter fishing vessel that rammed into Tubbataha’s north islet, were also expected to face additional charges, including attempted bribery. Marine park rangers at the World Heritage Site in the Sulu Sea said the Chinese offered them a bribe of $2,400 immediately after the boat ran aground. “We went ahead with the filing of the poaching case first and other violations under the law that created the Tubbataha marine park,” lawyer Adelle Villena of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development told the INQUIRER. She said other cases, including that one involving bribery, would follow. In Roxas City, President Benigno Aquino III said he was taken aback that yet another foreign vessel ran aground in the natural park, but this time he vowed to throw the book at the Chinese crew. “Wow! We’ve just finished (extracting the USS) Guardian, and here comes another one,” the President recalled what he told Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya when the letter reported to him the latest incident on Tuesday. Mr. Aquino said swift legal action would be taken against crewmen of the steel-hulled Read More …

Trillanes: Make known Sabah policy

 News
Feb 202013
 
Trillanes: Make known Sabah policy

Kirams given till Friday to recall forces By Norman Bordadora Philippine Daily Inquirer 12:02 am | Thursday, February 21st, 2013 Senator Antonio Trillanes IV. INQUIRER.net/Noy Morcoso III CEBU CITY—Reelectionist Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on Wednesday called on the Aquino administration to make known its policy on the country’s claim to Sabah and on the standoff between Malaysian security forces and a group of armed followers of the sultan of Sulu in the eastern Malaysian territory. The standoff in Tanduao village in Sabah’s Lahad Datu town has entered a second week, with Malaysian authorities saying on Wednesday that the situation is under control and that the Filipinos from Sulu will be deported soon. Emissaries from the Aquino administration are working quietly to convince Sultan Jamalul Kiram to recall his followers from Sabah. According to a highly placed source of the Inquirer in the Cabinet, Jamalul and his other brother, Bantilan Esmail Kiram II, must decide by Friday whether to call their followers home. On Wednesday, Esmail was going to see Jamalul, who is undergoing dialysis in a Manila hospital, to talk to him and make a decision, the source said. It is believed that the Malaysian government has given the sultan’s followers a deadline to leave or be rounded up and deported, but agreed to an extension of the deadline “by a few days” to allow the sultan and his family to reconsider their demand to stay in Sabah. President Aquino’s former backchannel link to Beijing at the height of tensions Read More …