MANILA – President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. yesterday assured that he is “slowly making progress” in his talks with China regarding the rights of Filipino fishermen in accessing their traditional fishing grounds.
In a media interview on the sidelines of the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) 125th founding anniversary, he shared the current situation in the resource-rich waters of the South China Sea, which are claimed in whole by China and in part by the Philippines and several other neighboring nations.
“That is slowly, slowly… these things do not come very quickly, slowly, slowly, but we are slowly making progress because the key to that is the improved communication between the Philippine government and the Chinese government,” Marcos furthered.
Citing a latest report, the Chief Executive said that Chinese vessels no longer block Filipino fishermen but merely follow them.
He described this as a “little progress,” which also pushed the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to project that the catch would increase.
“That is because we are continuing to talk to the Chinese government, to President Xi (Jinping) in every way,” Marcos said, adding that he prioritized discussing the plight of Filipino fishermen with Xi when they first met.
“Ang inuna ko talaga noong kami ay nagkita, ay sinabi ko unahin na lang natin ‘yong fisheries, huwag na nating pag-usapan ‘yong terirtoryo dahil hindi naman tayo makakapagdecide dito na nag-uusap tayo, unahin niyo ‘yong fisheries. Dahil sinsabi ko e wala namang kasalanan ‘yong tao, bakit natin paparusahan? (I prioritized fisheries when we met. Let’s not talk about the territory because we cannot decide on that, but let’s prioritize the fisheries. Because I said the fishermen didn’t do anything wrong, so why should they suffer?).”
The President shared that there is also better coordination now, which allows fishermen to plan ahead when there’s an upcoming fishing ban.
The government, Marcos said, must provide other livelihood and other sources of income in case of a fishing ban.
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