PCG says up to gov't to return anchor of floating barrier to China
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it is up to the national government's decision whether the anchor they recovered after cutting the floating barrier in the Scarborough Shoal will give back to China.
"For that particular decision it has to be advice by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and of course we also intent to forward this evidence to the National Task Force - West Philippine Sea (NTF WPS) where in the DFA, Department of Justice (DOJ) all concern government agencies are part of," Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) Commodore Jay Tarriela said in a press conference on Friday.
"It's up to guidance of our National Security Adviser, the chairman of the NTF WPS regarding the decision of the entire body whether it's DFA or DOJ we still don't know but definitely it's not the coast guard who's going to decide on it," he added.
Tarriela said so far they haven't received any request to return the anchor of the floating barrier that they have recovered.
He also stressed that in case China will reinstall its floating barrier at the Scarborough Shoal, the PCG "will do whatever it takes" to remove it again.
"Our president has already given a specific and clear instruction to the PCG to remove the barrier the first time we learned about it. In the next coming months if ever that barrier will once again be in place, the PCG will do whatever it takes for us to remove the barrier,'' he said.
Following the removal of the floating barrier in Scarborough Shoal, Tarriela said the government encourage the Filipino fishermen to go there and conduct fishing activity in the area.
"I supposed more Filipino fishermen will be motivated to go to BDM (Bajo de Masinloc) to conduct fishing activity and this is something that the government encourage them to do," he said.
However, Tarriela admitted that it remains a challenge for the Filipino fishermen to enter the lagoon at the Scarborough Shoal as there are Chinese Coast Guard that are always guarding the area.
"It is still a struggle for the Filipino fishermen to enter the lagoon as I said as a result of our maritime domain awareness (MDA) flight there are now two China Coast Guard vessels guarding the lagoon, so if the Chinese Coast Guard would really push hard for our Filipino fishermen not to do fishing activity inside the lagoon, off course they can do that," he said.
Tarriela admitted that the PCG and BFAR do not have enough resources to constantly maintain presence in Scarborough Shoal but he assures that the government will increase its presence in the area.
"With the guidance of our president, the PCG and BFAR although we are not going to be constantly present there we don't have enough resources to be able to 24/7 ensure the safety and security of the Filipino fishermen but we are going to increase more presence but not constant," he said. Robina Asido/DMS
