GERONA, Tarlac—Fishermen in Pangasinan province will soon file a complaint in the United Nations against China, whose Coast Guard personnel drove them away from their traditional fishing ground in the Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, lawyer Harry Roque Jr. said here last week.
Roque, director of the University of the Philippines Institute of International Legal Studies, said he has been communicating with fishermen from Infanta town, Pangasinan, to prepare the complaint.
“This case will be similar to the complaint we filed for the fishermen of Zambales [province],” he said.
On June 24, Roque filed an urgent appeal at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) to call its attention on the human rights violations that China had committed against Zambales fishermen when they were driven away from Scarborough Shoal in several instances since 2012.
The Scarborough Shoal is a triangular chain of reefs and rocks surrounding a lagoon in the West Philippine Sea. It has a perimeter of 46 kilometers and an area of 150 square kilometers, making it a rich fishing ground.
The shoal is 240 km from the coastline of Zambales and western Pangasinan, well within the 370-km exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
Charlito Maniago, barangay captain of the fishing village of Cato in Infanta, the home village of the fishermen driven from the shoal, welcomed Roque’s help.
Maniago said he would help Roque gather the testimonies of all fishermen who were asked to leave the shoal by the Chinese Coast Guard.
The first documented victim of Chinese intimidation from the village was Ramoncito Dumas and his crew. They were taking shelter at the shoal to avoid huge waves in January last year when Chinese vessels fired water cannons at them.
In April, Efren Montehermozo Jr. and his group also experienced being hit by water cannons when they were driven away by Chinese the Coast Guard from the shoal.
“Many more fishermen from our village actually experienced being hit with water cannons there. It’s just that these were unreported and undocumented. In fact, one of my boats was damaged,” said Joey Legaspi, a member of Cato village council, who is also a fishing boat operator.
In his blog (www.harryroque.com), Roque said the Zambales fishermen’s rights that China had violated include their right to a livelihood, right to life, and their right to the places of refuge for ships in distress in accordance with the right to life.
“This is according to several United Nations issuances, specifically the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international customary norms,” said Roque.
He said the Zambales fishermen also asked UN to intervene and investigate the human rights violations committed by China and its state agents against Filipino fishermen on Scarborough Shoal.
“The appeal asks the UNCHR to remind, declare and direct China to cease and desist from committing these violations and from interfering with the rights of the Filipino fisherfolk, and to remind declare and direct China to provide effective remedies and compensation following the violations committed by its state agents,” Roque said. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon