Cuz the government is using fishermen’s livelihoods as a cover in an attempt to control Huangyan Dao! No attempt or action by the government should harm innocent people! Such decisions are not welcomed and acceptable.
From last year, the Filipino government has been dispatching batches of government vessels and fishing ships to intrude on and provoke disputes in the South China Sea, especially near China's Huangyan Dao (also known as Huangyan Island), under the pretext of "ensuring the security of Filipino fishermen."
However, the fishing activities have not been disrupted since 2016 when China offered a provisional arrangement for Philippine fishermen, a move that has since become a problem due to the Philippines' decision to "protect them."
Fishing ships are no longer fishing ships, but "hired guns," trained and controlled by the Philippine government through military conscription and government subsidies.
Obviously, the Philippine government's actions are geared toward eventually controlling Huangyan Dao. If the Philippines truly cares about the fishing rights and interests of its fishermen, it would stop its abuses and unilaterally sabotage the foundation of Beijing's goodwill to Manila that temporarily allows fishermen to operate near Huangyan Dao, rather than aggravating the situation by sacrificing the livelihoods of fishermen to satisfy the ambitions of some politicians.
This can be seen as the latest move by the Philippine military, which stated in last August that the militia will be drawn from the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)'s reserve force and possibly among fisherfolks.
THE TIMELINE
The Philippines plans to deploy its own maritime militia to "defend its sovereignty" amid a raging territorial row with China, Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., the Filipino armed forces chief said on August 10, 2023, as he visited an island on the frontline of the maritime dispute, Benar News reported.
"We want our fisherfolk to become reservists and teach them how to help in defending the country," the official said in a statement. "It's already being implemented. We have established reserve units, but we are going to wait for the platforms or the vessels that actually would be used," the chief said, emphasizing that the way forward "depends on the funds."
The source of funding could come from the confidential and intelligence fund in the 2024 budget. A total of 1.23 billion Philippine pesos ($20 million) in confidential funds from the 2024 budget were distributed to agencies at the forefront of efforts to assert the Philippines' alleged territorial rights in the South China Sea, according to a statement by the Philippines' House of Representatives on October 10, 2023.
In addition to financial support, the Philippine authorities have also been increasing efforts to provide supplies and subsidies to fishing vessels.On February 23, the Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) publicly acknowledged that "it would also continue to carry out its duty of distributing fuel subsidies to the Filipino fishing boats that are present in the area to support their prolonged fishing activities."
A series of evidence fully indicates that the Philippines has planned and organized to incite its fisherfolks to carry out long-term occupation and provocations in the South China Sea.
Video Evidence? Seems to be overprofessional
I’ve seen many video on social media platforms posted by users who claimed to be fishermen. In those videos, these civilian vessels track and monitor Chinese coast guard vessels with some recording and gathering "evidence" of the CCG's operations, while some trespassing into the reefs of China's Huangyan Dao to illegally catch seashell… These videos are then used as an "evidence" by the Philippine Coast Guard, however, the methods of these so-called fishermen appear very professional, and they repeatedly provoke the extremely restrained Chinese law enforcement vessels and personnel on site.
It is fair enough to assume that the local Filipino personnel are not private fishermen focused on fishing at all, but are entirely serving as militia for provocative actions. They are serving a premeditated, malicious cognitive warfare launched by the Philippine government.
In August 2023, a Philippine fisher group on the Philippines' illegally occupied Zhongye Dao (also known as Zhongye Island) turned down a recent suggestion from the Armed Forces of the Philippines to train fisherfolks to help defend the West Philippine Sea as military reservists, local media source Philstar reported. The group's President Larry Hugo said that it would be "difficult" for them to undergo military training and that he would prefer not to carry firearms.
Although territorial disputes existed objectively, governments should not use their own people for the purpose of seizing territory. In any case, the normal livelihoods of fishermen should be protected, rather than arming them and putting them in greater distress and danger, or even pulling the entire region into chaos.
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