Villegas urges Palace to stand firm on West Philippine Sea

DAGUPAN CITY—Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas urged the Marcos administration to remain “firm and unyielding” in defending the country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), “without provoking hostilities but without cowering in the face of threat.”

In a pastoral message issued on Sunday, Villegas said he was lending his voice to fisherfolk in Pangasinan and Zambales who are “groaning and crying for help.”

“While the People’s Republic of China can send armed vessels and powerful ships through the [WPS], our humble fishermen can only ride the waves on small and flimsy bancas and are certainly no match for the Chinese vessels that harass them and make earning a living difficult, if not impossible, for them,” the prelate said.

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“Many of the people to whom my priests and I minister are fisherfolk for whom the [WPS] means livelihood and sustenance for themselves and for the members of their families for decades,” Villegas pointed out.

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“The sea was what supported the humble fisherfolk of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan and the Dioceses of Iba and Alaminos. Its resources and wealth gave them and their families security. But they have never been greedy, never rapacious. They have taken from the sea only what they need!” he said.

Villegas added: “And so the dispute over the [WPS] is more than a matter of conflicting claims. While legal scholars are right to contest China’s aggressive moves that apparently aim at ousting Filipinos from maritime zones that are ours, the issue has to do with the very survival and the future of the families who live by the sea and support themselves from its resources.”

The archbishop said this was why he firmly supported those defending Philippine sovereignty and asserting “our sovereign rights over the maritime zones that prevailing law declares in the Philippines’ favor.”

‘God’s gift’

Villegas noted that the WPS is “God’s gift to his people” and that its resources “come from the Creator’s munificence and generosity.”

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“Defending it is taking the side of the people whom God has favored by the gift of the sea,” he said.

Fishing boat operators from the Pangasinan coastal towns of Infanta, Dasol and Bolinao said they have not personally experienced or directly encountered harassment during fishing operations, according to a report by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Region I.

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In a report to BFAR National Director Elizer Salilig, BFAR Region I Director Remely Lachica said the operators had voluntarily refrained from fishing near Bajo de Masinloc, also known as Scarborough Shoal, following reports of harassment involving other fishing vessels operating in the area.

But fishermen from nearby Zambales have continued to report harassment by Chinese vessels near Bajo de Masinloc, with some saying they are routinely followed and driven away from their traditional fishing grounds. INQ

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