November 14, 2024
MANILA – “Filipino fishing boat, you are not allowed to enter.”
This was the warning issued by a China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel as it repeatedly blasted its horns to keep Filipino fishermen from entering Escoda (Sabina) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea in October.
In a three-page handwritten affidavit submitted to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Arnel Lepalam, the boat captain of FB Hadassah from Quezon town in Palawan, said he and his crew were subjected to days of harassment by the CCG at Escoda, Rozul (Iroquois) Reef and Bombay Shoal.
Escoda lies 150 kilometers west of Palawan, well within the country’s exclusive economic zone, while Rozul Reef is located 237 km from Palawan’s Rizal town and 148 km southwest of Recto (Reed) Bank. Bombay Shoal is about 101 km from mainland Palawan.
Lepalam said they left Quezon port on Oct. 8 and spotted a CCG vessel 14.8 km away from Bombay, which is located between Palawan mainland and Escoda.
At 4 a.m. the next day, they saw another CCG ship with hull number 4108 about 48 km east of Escoda.
“The China Coast Guard 4108 started blasting its horn and made a close maneuver against our boat,” Lepalam said.
As the Hadassah got closer to Escoda at 29.6 km east of the shoal at 5:50 a.m, the CCG vessel 4108 left.
Blocked by speed boats
But another CCG ship with bow number 5203 deployed a speed boat for its personnel to get closer to the Filipino vessel. This was followed by a second speed boat minutes later.
By 6:10 a.m., the two Chinese speed boats were blocking the Filipino fishing boat from entering Escoda.
“They repeatedly rammed our boat and forced us to leave Sabina Shoal,” Lepalam said.
The Filipinos were eventually forced to return to Bombay Shoal “because we were scared.”
But even as they sailed away from Escoda, CCG 5203 and its speed boats continued to trail them.
On the same day, Lepalam and his crew decided to relocate to Rozul Reef so that they could still go fishing and not let their entire trip go to waste.
‘Gray ship’
In the afternoon of Oct. 9, another CCG vessel with bow number 21558 got close enough for its crew to take a video of the Hadassah, apparently to make sure it was moving away from Escoda.
The Filipino vessel arrived at Rozul on Oct. 10 and spent about a week there.
On Oct 17, they decided to go back to Escoda. In their approach, at about 99 km (53.7 nautical miles) north northwest of the shoal, they saw a “gray ship” with bow number 629 around 1:35 p.m.
The gray ship came as close as 5.5 km to the Hadassah, and was joined minutes later by the CCG ship 4103.
At 8 p.m., with some 28 km to go before they reach Escoda, CCG ship 4103 came close to the fishing boat and kept blowing its horns until “we were no longer able to enter Sabina Shoal,” Lepalam said.
“We heard them saying, ‘Filipino fishing boat, you are not allowed to enter. We did not understand the rest of what they were saying,” he said.
It was at this point that the Hadassah turned around to head back to port in Quezon, Palawan.
Commercial fishing operations in this area for vessels coming from Palawan usually cost P400,000 to P500,000 per trip for fuel and crew provisions.
No PH presence since mid-Sept
The Philippine government has not reestablished any presence at Escoda Shoal since Sept. 14, when the BRP Teresa Magbanua, the PCG’s largest vessel, pulled out of the area after a five-month patrol.
Based on the official explanation for the withdrawal, the Magbanua was called back to port for repairs and due to the lack of supplies that had begun to take its toll on the health of its crew.
Before it left Escoda, the Magbanua was shadowed for days by the CCG’s largest ship nicknamed “The Monster” in a virtual standoff.
Incident report
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Commodore Jay Tarriela, the PCG spokesperson on the West Philippine Sea, said that upon learning about the Hadassa incident, the PCG “quickly located the fishermen to conduct an investigation and requested them to submit an affidavit, as well as to corroborate these incidents with other Filipino fishermen who may have witnessed the harassment.”
“This step is crucial for the PCG to formally submit an incident report to the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea and for other relevant agencies to take appropriate action. Good morning everyone,” Tarriela said.
Also on Tuesday, Rear Adm. Roy Vincent Trinidad, the Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, said at least 15 CCG vessels and 14 People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels were spotted across the entire West Philippine Sea in October.