MASINLOC, Philippines (Reuters) — The livelihoods of Philippine fishermen in the coastal town of Masinloc took a hit in 2012 after the Chinese coastguard blocked the entrance to Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
As the country prepares for the election on May 9, they are pinning their hopes on a president who will stand up to China and help restore their livelihood.
The shoal is around 130 nautical miles from Masinloc.
Fears of possible armed confrontation have circulated in Masinloc due to reports of Chinese coastguard blasting water cannon at fishermen who went near the shoal.
Many of the fishermen have settled to fishing nearby. They say they’re now relying on measly catch compared to their once bountiful harvest in the resource-rich shoal.
Biany Mula once operated ships that took fishermen near the shoal. Now, he drives a motorcycle taxi.
“We want a tougher president that would make China leave the Philippine Sea. That area is not their property,” he said.
But others just wanted peace in the area.
“There have been talk here about war, but we are afraid of fighting. I hope it won’t happen. Let us just fish. Let everyone be allowed to fish in Scarborough,” said Joy Tupaz, a fish vendor.
Military analyst Jose Antonio Custodio said China will unlikely allow Filipino fishermen back inside Scarborough.
“If ever China allows it, it’s under their terms and that’s the thing. The only way for China to behave is if there’s an international coordinated effort to show that unilateral aggressive acts don’t pay. But that’s something that’s very difficult to accomplish, especially as we near the elections season, wherein we’re not so sure what would the next foreign policy objectives of the incoming administration,” he said.
The Philippines has strongly opposed China’s occupation on the shoal and claimed it was well-within their own Exclusive Economic Zone.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, believed to have huge deposits of oil and gas. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the waters, through which about $5 trillion in trade is shipped every year.
The Philippines has challenged Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, in a case Beijing has not recognised.
Alexander Manzano, who had fished in the shoal for decades, has not lost hope that someday he will be able to return to his usual fishing ground.
He said he is optimistic about the next president.
“I will vote because somebody will resolve the issue in Scarborough. I believe someone will be able to do it, that is why I’ll vote,” he said.
More than 54 million Filipinos are choosing a new president, vice president, about 300 lawmakers in the two-chamber Congress and about 18,000 local government positions in the nation-wide elections on May 9.