Ang Pahayagan

Zambales — Fishers’ group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA) held its two-day collective fishing expedition off Masinloc town.

In a statement, PAMALAKAYA said that aside from being a response to the unilateral fishing moratorium of Beijing, the fishing expedition also called for “total demilitarization” of the West Philippine Sea.

“What we did was not only an act of defiance against China’s self-imposed fishing ban. It was moreover an assertion that our territorial waters should be exclusive for fishing and other economic activities, not for warmongering military projection of any foreign power.

This means that the Filipino fisherfolk equally reject the heightened Chinese usurpation and the U.S. military aggression in our waters,” Joey Marabe, PAMALAKAYA-Zambales Provincial Coordinator said.

Marabe said that the recent U.S. Balikatan war exercises in San Antonio have inflicted damage to the livelihood of fisherfolk in several coastal towns, including Masinloc.

“Tiyak na nakaapekto nang malubha sa yamang-dagat ang isinagawang pambobomba ng U.S. sa karagatan ng Zambales. Ramdam ito ng mga mangingisda sa ilang bayan ng lalawigan na simula nang matapos ang Balikatan noong Mayo, bumaba ang nahuhuling isda at kita sa bawat pagpalaot. Kaya hindi lamang China ang kailangang papanagutin sa patuloy na okupasyon, kundi maging ang karibal nitong U.S. na kaparehong nagdudulot ng perwisyo sa aming kabuhayan at paglabag sa ating kasarinlan,” Jojo Ecijan, President of Masinloc-based Panatag Fisherfolk Association said.

The expedition was participated by around 20 small fisherfolk, accompanied by various patriotic groups and advocates from the Pilipinong Nagkakaisa Para sa Soberanya (P1NAS), League of Filipino Students (LFS), and Representatives from the Makabayan bloc.