More and more Filipino fishermen
are complaining to the government that they are being chased away from
their traditional fishing areas off the Filipino coast by Chinese coast
guard ships. This is particularly bad at Scarborough Shoal. This is in
violation of a deal made last June with the Chinese. Not only did
Chinese patrol boats soon return to Scarborough Shoal but Chinese
fishing boats are again operating there and even erected a flimsy
barrier (with rowboats, rope and fishing nets) across the entrance to
the lagoon and forcibly preventing Filipino fishing boats from entering.
Scarborough Shoal is in waters the Philippines claims (according to
international law). The shoal is only 250 kilometers from the
Philippines, and 1,200 kilometers from China. Despite this China claims
ownership of Scarborough Shoal, but has not yet used deadly force to
assert that claim. What China is apparently doing is sending patrol
boats from their fishery protection service to “protect their
fishermen”. According to China, they are in compliance with the June
deal, as they never agreed that Chinese fishing boats could not operate
around Scarborough Shoal. The Philippines does not agree but has
refrained from sending warships to the shoal and chasing the Chinese
fishing boats away. To Filipinos this is another example of China saying
one thing and doing another.
MILF and government negotiators continue working out the
details of a peace deal over Moslem autonomy in the south. MILF is
impatient but the government points out that the deal has to be
acceptable to most of the Filipinos MILF does not represent. Moslems are
only eight percent of all Filipinos, and an even smaller proportion of
the economic activity. MILF wants control of more of the economy, which
meant control of "ancestral Moslem areas" in the south that are now
populated by Christians. The Christian majority refuses to allow
domination by Moslems in a more autonomous Moslem south. This issue has
not been completely resolved. This deal does not please some radical
groups, who may try to block implementation.
The Filipino Moslems claiming nearby Sabah say they have sent
another thousand armed men to Sabah but have ordered them to remain
quiet until after the May 5th elections in Malaysia. Filipino
clan leader Raja Kiram openly invaded the Malaysian province of Sabah
in February and sought to take control of the area because of an old
claim his family had on the area. The invasion force was destroyed in
March. The fighting resulted in over 80 dead (nearly all of them
Filipinos). Malaysia believes there are still at least a hundred of the
armed Kiram followers in the area and military forces continue to search
for these invaders. Most of those already captured are being charged
with murder and terrorism. Meanwhile over 5,000 Filipino civilians (most
of them apparently working in Sabah illegally) have fled Sabah, many of
them returning to the Philippines. Malaysia does not believe there are
another thousand armed Kiram followers who have recently arrived. It is
known that hundreds of Filipinos continue to flee Sabah each week as the
Malaysian government is no longer tolerating Filipinos living illegally
in Sabah.
April 19, 2013: In the south (the Sulu Sea) a Chinese fishing
boat was removed from Tubbataha Reef where it had run aground April
8th. The Chinese boat was in a nature preserve closed to commercial
shipping. Moreover the Chinese boat had 2,000 pangolins on board, an
endangered species that is a valuable delicacy in China but illegal to
fish in Filipino waters. The twelve man crew of the Chinese ship was
arrested, even though they tried to bribe the nature park rangers who
found them. At first the Chinese ship was thought to be a spy ship as
the crew was dressed in military style camouflage uniforms.
April 18, 2013: In the south (Surigao del Sur province) two
policemen held captive by the NPA escaped. Elsewhere in the south
(Zamboanga Sibugay province) police clashed with 30 NPA men and forced
the rebels to retreat. Apparently several of the communist rebels were
wounded.
April 15, 2013: In the south (Basilan) soldiers attacked an
Abu Sayyaf camp, killing eight terrorists. Three soldiers were wounded.
MILF complained that their men were also attacked, but that was because a
MILF camp was only 300 meters from the Abu Sayyaf camp and some gunfire
came their way during the fighting. The government accuses MILF of
tolerating the presence of Abu Sayyaf, which MILF denies.
April 14, 2013: In the south (Surigao del Sur province) two policemen were captured by NPA rebels.
April 12, 2013: The government noted that, if there were
another war in Korea, the mutual defense treaty with the U.S. would
allow America to use some Filipino bases to support American forces in
Korea or headed there. The Philippines is hoping to get more commitment
from the U.S. for support against growing Chinese aggression. The
Chinese know that as long as they do not commit an obvious act of war
they can push the Filipinos around without the risk of American military
intervention.
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