Aboard a small wooden boat, Arnel Satam heads towards the Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea. The Filipino fisherman tries, in vain, to outrun the Chinese coast guard, hoping to enter this area where fish are more abundant.
Scarborough Reef is located in a disputed area, claimed by both Beijing and Manila.
The fishermen denounce the Chinese presence on this site which, they explain, deprives them of an important source of income and a refuge to shelter in the event of a storm.
“I want to fish here,” insists Arnel Satam, 54, barefoot on his blue outrigger canoe decorated with an “S”, the Superman emblem, to journalists who came to the area in a Filipino supply boat.
“They already chased me earlier today,” he said, explaining that the Chinese speedboats hit his boat. “I just made fun of them.”
Scarborough Reef is located 150 miles (240 km) west of the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and nearly 550 miles (900 km) from Hainan in mainland China.
Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which China helped develop, countries have the sovereign right to exploit natural resources within a radius of about 200 miles (370 km). ) of their ribs.
China, which claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, took control of the Scarborough Reef from the Philippines in 2012.
It has since deployed coast guard and other vessels to block access to fishing grounds exploited by Filipinos for generations.
Manila also denounces the recent deployment of a 300-meter-long floating barrier at the entrance to the atoll.
The barrier “prevents Philippine fishing boats from entering the reef” to exploit the area, the Philippine coast guard and the Philippine fisheries office said in a joint statement.
Filipino fishermen sometimes roam the area for weeks catching tuna, grouper and red snapper with nets, lines or harpoons.
A boat from the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the BRP Datu Bankaw, comes to deliver food, water and fuel to enable them to stay at sea longer.
About 50 small outrigger fishing boats were in the deep waters outside the reef when the boat dropped anchor on Wednesday, after an 18-hour crossing to reach the 300 km between Manila Bay and the reef.
This Friday, four Chinese coast guard boats are patrolling, trying to keep fishermen away from the BRP Datu Bankaw and the reef.
Suddenly, the voice of one of the coast guards is heard on the radio waves, ordering the BRP Datu Bankaw 15 times to leave “immediately” “Chinese territory”.
Ignoring these warnings, the 12 crew members distributed 60 tonnes of fuel in jerry cans and food parcels to the fishing boats.
These deliveries are free for fishermen, but some give boxes of freshly caught fish in return. Some come on board to eat and drink fresh water.
“We are very grateful for this help,” says one of them, Johnny Arpon, 53.
Fishermen explain to journalists aboard the BRP Datu Bankaw that they have already been hit by Chinese ships or targeted by their water cannons. Some had their anchor severed.
“They should leave this place,” because the reef “belongs to us,” protests Nonoy de los Reyes, 40.
After decades of overfishing by coastal countries, fishermen must stay longer at sea to catch enough fish and hope to make a small profit.
But China’s blockade of the reef makes the situation even more difficult. “We have almost no catch, so we will probably have to stay here for another two weeks,” says Alex del Campo, 41, who has already spent more than a week at sea.
The day before, this fisherman and two others tried to enter the reef in their small boats, but they were chased away by the Chinese coast guard.
“We are powerless because they are armed and we only have one fisherman in each of our three boats,” emphasizes Alex del Campo. “If they hit and sink our ships, who will save us?”
09/25/2023 5:16:36 p.m. – Scarborough Reef (Philippines) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP