No More Fish in the Sea: Masinloc Fisherfolk Speak Up
Screengrab from GMA Public Affairs’ Youtube account.
OBSCURE DIPLOMACY aside, there are other aspects of China’s presence in Philippine waters worth reporting.
The plight of the fishermen, harassed or taunted, even prevented, by Chinese vessels from their livelihood, had called the attention of the media in the past. Government had so far assured the public that the friendly relations established by the Duterte administration had opened up the seas to Filipino fishing boats.
CMFR cheers GMA-7’s Reporter’s Notebook for revisiting these communities whose voices had been drowned in the midst of political statements from the Palace and the Department of Foreign Affairs.
In the first (June 7) of the two-part documentary “Batas ng Karagatan”, reporter Jun Veneracion and his camera crew boarded a fishing boat from Masinloc, Zambales to Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, documenting the way fishermen try to catch fish in the Chinese-guarded reef. The GMA crew witnessed the China Coast Guard asking for fish before any fish had been caught.
The fishermen told Veneracion that such action was habitual, giving the media crew a cellphone video taken last May showing the China Coast Guard taking fish from storage without permission. One of the men said his fishing gear was forcibly taken from him last December and he went home empty-handed.
In the second part (June 14), Veneracion reported that on June 11, Malacanang brought to Manila three of the Masinloc fishermen (Rommel Cejuela, Delfin Egana and Ronnie Drio) in the documentary to answer questions from the media. He showed clips of the three recounting how the Chinese have taken their fish and sometimes giving them noodles, cigarettes and water in exchange, pointing out that these were of lesser value than their catch. They also told journalists about the Chinese confiscating their gear in December 2017, taking care to describe the action as “harassment.”
Stories from the ground, as told by those directly affected by conflict, bring ordinary people’s struggles closer to the larger public and reveals the impact of government’s policies, especially those dealing with foreign countries.
| CMFR cheers other journalists who attended the briefing and were critical of the Palace’s handling of the press conference.
Rappler’s Pia Ranada said Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque “fielded his own questions.” Ranada said, “When GMA-7 reporter Joseph Morong started on a series of questions about how the fishermen themselves define harassment, the presidential spokesman lost his cool.” Rappler quoted the spokesman: “I’m sorry, but you can’t do a documentary on my press briefing,” said Roque, who added that Morong had “asked 7 questions already” (“To prove fruits of PH-China ‘friendship,’ Roque brings fishermen to press briefing”). Maricel Halili of TV5’s Aksyon Tonite reported that Roque tried to cut the briefing short. Halili’s report included a clip of Roque saying “fish thievery” and laughing, drowning out Cejuela’s attempt to explain what he considers harassment. Morong can be heard in the clip telling Roque, “Sir, he (Cejuela) is talking” (“Pagkuha ng Chinese Coast Guard sa huli ng mga mangingisdang Pinoy, inireklamo ng Pilipinas sa China”). |
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