Where’s data from oil search device, fishers ask

UNUSUAL FIND Fishermen found an ocean bottom seismometer, or OBS, in a recent trip to the West Philippine Sea, about 239 kilometers northwest of Infanta, Pangasinan. The equipment, bearing Chinese characters and used in oil exploration, was recovered within the country’s exclusive economic zone. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—A federation of fishermen whose members found a Chinese-marked ocean-bottom seismograph (OBS) at the Pangasinan side of the West Philippine Sea in July has pressed the Department of National Defense to release the result of its investigation into the matter and the information contained by the instrument.

Bigkis ng Mangingisda aired the demand almost two months since the group turned over the OBS to the Philippine Navy and after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced a plan to send the OBS to the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for evaluation.

“The authorities have yet to state whatever happened to the evaluation or investigation,” Rony Drio, Bigkis spokesperson, said in a statement on Tuesday.

People’s Development Institute, a nongovernment organization, had tapped Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, in identifying the object.

Drio said Batongbacal informed them that the OBS, found floating some 239 kilometers off Barangay Cato in Infanta town, is used to monitor underwater earthquakes while on a search for oil.

Members of the Philippine Coast Guard tried to get hold of the OBS on July 20 but it was turned over by Bigkis to the Philippine Navy the previous day.

The instrument bore Chinese characters that provided contact details and promised rewards for finders.

“The installation of this instrument, even for a benign purpose such as monitoring the seabed, should have been with prior consent of the Philippines because it is in the [exclusive economic zone and] it can be used for exploration and exploitation of natural resources, so the Philippines has the right to withhold consent,” Batongbacal was quoted in the same statement as saying.

Drio said they were wondering if the OBS would have an impact on their fishing activities.

“If [it is true] that the Chinese put this in our seas, a surveillance can be done with the help of the Chinese Coast Guard. If that’s the case, more Chinese forces can drive us away from our fishing grounds,” Drio said.

Bigkis members are based in the neighboring provinces of Bataan, Zambales and Pangasinan.

—TONETTE OREJAS