AFP treads softly on Scarborough

From Malaya Business Insight (Nov 4): AFP treads softly on Scarborough

FOR the sake of the fishermen’s livelihood, the Armed Forces will not be sending ships to assert the country’s claim over Scarborough or Panatag shoal, Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said yesterday.

“As of now, we’re not,” Padilla said when asked to react to the suggestion of some groups to send ships to the shoal which was taken over by China in April 2012.

Padilla said the military’s action will remain confined to monitoring. He did not elaborate.

“We’ll be monitoring only and let the current condition to prevail…It’s better that we not comment (on how the military will do the monitoring),” he said.

He said the Armed Forces welcomes the recent developments in the shoal “and we hope this continues in the interest of all those who are getting their livelihood out of the area.”

“It’s better that we allow the prevailing condition to continue for the interest of our fishermen,” said Padilla, appealing to the public not to “muddle” the situation, pending dialogue between the two sides.

“We all know that (past) events there were sensitive so any move should be properly calculated. What we want to prevail is a situation where our fishermen can resume livelihood and we achieved that already,” added Padilla.

China had been driving away Filipino fishermen from the shoal until after President Duterte went on a state visit to China to strengthen ties.

Despite the development, Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. reiterated that no agreement has been reached between Manila and Beijing regarding Panatag Shoal.

Yasay said what happened could be part of a “quiet diplomacy’ between the two countries to inspire and build mutual trust.

“There is no agreement that has been arrived at with China insofar as these ships leaving or our fishermen having access to Scarborough or Panatag Shoal but I would imagine as part of our quiet diplomacy trying to build mutual trust and confidence with two countries, these have been made possible,” Yasay said in a television interview Thursday.

The DFA chief also denied that the country sought permission from Chinese authorities to allow Filipino fishermen to return to Scarborough. He said doing so would mean conceding authority to China.

Yasay did not answer why Chinese Coast Guard ships and a Navy vessel are still in the area, though Filipino fishermen who have ventured there said they were not harassed.

In a statement Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the condition “is and will remain unchanged,” as “the Chinese side has always been exercising normal jurisdiction over Huangyan Dao (Scarborough Shoal).

For his part, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said both countries reached a “friendly understanding” to let Filipino fishermen go back to Scarborough, without Manila and Beijing dropping their claims.

http://www.malaya.com.ph/business-news/news/afp-treads-softly-scarborough