A Philippine congressman on Monday opposed giving fishermen intelligence and security roles within the country’s exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea amid rising tensions with China, citing their safety.
“Let soldiers, professionals and trained reservists do the job, not the fishermen,” Party-list Rep. Alfred C. de los Santos said in a statement.
“It would be better to mobilize the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) auxiliaries and military reservists if the PCG and Armed Forces of the Philippines need more people to gather evidence and intelligence,” he added.
House of Representatives appropriations committee Chairman and Party-list Rep. Elizaldy S. Co earlier said lawmakers would realign the combined P650-million confidential and intelligence funds of the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and Department of Education (DepEd) to intelligence and security offices.
Among the agencies that will benefit from the intelligence funds are the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA), National Security Council (NSA), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
The House on Wednesday night passed House Bill 8980 or the General Appropriations bill on third and final reading. Senators are still holding budget hearings and are expected to pass their version of the bill next month.
Chester B. Cabalza, founding president of Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation, said Filipino fishermen should be trained in maritime domain because they are most vulnerable to rising tensions in the disputed water.
“In China, their fishermen in the South China Sea are highly trained maritime militia and informers who can gather intelligence information,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat. “They are trained to fight in the maritime domain to protect their national interest.”
Fishermen are “stakeholders in the West Philippine Sea,” he said, referring to areas of the South China Sea within the country’s exclusive economic zone. Training them as “maritime warriors” would benefit coastal communities, he added.
China, which claims more than 80% of the South China Sea, had ignored a 2016 ruling by a United Nations-backed arbitration court that voided its claim based on a 1940s map.
The Philippines has failed to enforce the ruling and has since filed hundreds of protests over what it calls encroachment and harassment of Philippine coast guard and fishermen by China’s coast guard and its vast fishing fleet.