From GMANews (Oct 6): China has de facto control over Panatag Shoal, says former DFA senior official

Long used as a shelter by Filipino fishermen but subject to conflicting claims by both the Philippines and China, the hotly disputed Panatag Shoal is now under the de facto control of China, according to a former Philippine senior foreign affairs official. “Remember, China roped off the area and no fishermen and no vessels from the Philippines can go in,” said former foreign affairs undersecretary Lauro Baja Jr. He spoke Friday at a University of the Philippines forum. Baja also served as former Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations. The Philippine government will not officially admit that it has lost control of the Panatag Shoal, known internationally as Scarborough Shoal. But since its unilateral withdrawal of its ships last June, armed Chinese ships have blocked access to the area. China calls this cluster of rocks surrounding a protected lagoon Huangyan Island. Philippine foreign affairs officials claim that China violated an agreement brokered by the United States that called for the simultaneous withdrawal of both Philippine and Chinese ships that had been locked in a tense stand-off at the shoal since April. China has denied that there was any such agreement....

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/277126/news/nation/china-has-de-facto-control-over-panatag-shoal-says-former-dfa-senior-official?ref=topstories