Zambales fishers fear military surveillance after West PH Sea expedition

Some fishermen in Masinloc, Zambales joined a fishing expedition organized by Pamalakaya last month in a symbolic move to resist China’s fishing ban. | PHOTO: Joanna Rose Aglibot / Inquirer Central Luzon

MASINLOC, Zambales, Philippines — Some local fishermen here who joined the collective fishing expedition asserting the country’s sovereign rights over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) expressed their fear after allegedly being subjected to surveillance by government troops.

According to Joey Marabe, secretary of the Panatag Fisherfolk Association (Panatag), a series of surveillance events occurred days after they joined the expedition organized by the fisherfolk group Pamalakaya on May 30 to 31. Panatag is a local affiliate of the fishers’ group Pamalakaya.

“One after the other, some were apparently spying by visiting us and asking for our names and other information, as well as our companions in Pamalakaya,” said Marabe, who is also Pamalakaya’s Zambales coordinator.

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Julius Ecijan, president of Panatag, recounted that on June 1, right after the expedition, a staff sergeant from the 69th Infantry Batallion (IB) visited the president of the fisherfolk’s association, and asked him about the expedition.

“The army officer also asked about the organizers of Pamalakaya and their whereabouts. I answered the army factually,” said Ecijan.

On June 12, the same staff sergeant returned to the community but failed to talk to Ecijan because he was out in the sea, Marabe said.

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“However, the army official was able to talk to other members of Panatag and ask them the same questions about their group and Pamalakaya,” Marabe told the Inquirer.

The members also reported that the army was showing them photos of some of the Pamalakaya organizers, whom the army accused of being recruiters of the communist New People’s Army (NPA).

The next day, June 13, the army officer went to the houses of those who had joined the fishing expedition to ask them the same questions.

Bobby Roldan, Pamalakaya vice chair for Luzon, slammed the incident, saying that the military has no business with the group’s legitimate activities.

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“Why would the military intimidate Filipino fishermen who are standing up against foreign intrusion in the West Philippine Sea? This favors no one but the foreign aggressors, especially China,” said Roldan, who is also a fisherman here.

He said that it is unfortunate that Filipino fishers, who are already threatened by the presence of the China Coast Guard in the country’s territorial waters, are being intimidated by local authorities, “who should collectively stand for our rights to fish. ”

“Moreover, this reflects the Marcos administration’s attitude toward asserting our territory, as it would rather have the fisherfolk remain silent than let them perform their patriotic duties in defending our sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Roldan.

Lt. Col. Sonny Dungca, commander of the 69th IB of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said that he condemned those acts and that they will conduct further investigation to confirm the incidents.

“Anyone can introduce themselves as part of the Army or from 69th IB. We will conduct further investigation, and we will schedule a talk with them [fishermen], and we will find out the truth because that’s not good,” said Dungca in a phone interview.

He added: “First of all, our Army, the 69th IB, is on the side of the fishermen. We have the same objective: to preserve the integrity of our territory and particularly to protect the Filipino people, we are not their enemy.”

Dungca stressed that he condemned those acts, especially if people were being intimidated.

“However, if we will look at it, why are they intimidated by your Army when you are not doing anything? We are here to help, not to intimidate,” he said.

According to Dungca, there may be other entities “that are just using this situation to exploit these locals and even dragging our unit. But I assure the locals that my unit is committed to helping them.”

But according to Roldan, no one exploits the fishermen but the foreigners who are encroaching on their fishing grounds, and the local authorities who want to silence them and prevent them from joining progressive organizations.

“An element of the 69th IB openly accused Pamalakaya of being connected with the NPA. We would like to remind the 69th IB of the Supreme Court’s recent decision against Red-tagging, and its appropriate liability for those found guilty,” Roldan said.