Congressman leads 'fish protest' vs China in Makati

MANILA, Philippines - Activists led by a congressman on Tuesday afternoon stormed the Chinese Consulate in Makati City and staged a "fish protest."

Wearing colorful fish masks with a giant Philippine flag as a backdrop, the protesters led by Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello called on the Chinese government to end all intrusions and poaching activities in the West Philippine Sea.

"If the fish could actually talk, they would likely express outrage against the atrocious poaching activities in the West Philippine Sea by the Chinese government. China aims to stake a monopoly over the fishing and energy resources of the West Philippine Sea in its bid to become a regional hegemon. This is at the expense of destroying the marine ecosystems in the area and subverting its neighbors' sovereignty," Bello said.

"China's moves are forcing other countries into the hands of the United States by allowing the latter to portray itself as a military savior or balancer. If the Chinese government wants to maintain regional balance and harmony, only its complete pull-out from the West Philippine Sea, no conditions set, can bolster confidence and trust with our country. Otherwise, we can expect these incursions to continue with the eventual and complete occupation of the West Philippine Sea by the Chinese government," Bello added.

During the picket, the protesters also urged the Aquino government to develop and implement a comprehensive defense policy to secure the West Philippine Sea from what it described as expansionist foreign entities.

"The sacrifices of our national heroes should serve as an inspiration for us. We should not allow Philippine sovereignty to be undermined by the aggression of the Chinese government. Our government should act immediately in crafting a comprehensive defense policy that will ensure that every island in the West Philippine Sea will not be stolen from us," Bello said.

According to Bello, a comprehensive defense policy would have to include a modernization and professionalization of the Philippine Navy, a strong civilian constituency to assert and defend Philippine sovereignty, improved infrastructure in civilian-occupied islands and joint marine patrols with ASEAN countries in areas outside the Philippine exclusive economic zone and considered as international waters in the West Philippine Sea.

Akbayan, however, warned that the Philippine government should be cautious in using other superpowers like the United States to frustrate the threat of Chinese aggression.

Bello said the Philippine government should use the current conflict with China as an opportunity to tread a more independent foreign policy and use regional cooperation to resolve the conflict.

"You can't fight Goliath by bringing in the Terminator. Using the US to fight our conflicts with China is just replacing one schoolyard bully with another. Bringing in more superpowers only complicates and aggravates the situation," Bello said.

Bello also warned that once superpower dynamics takes over, the territorial issues tend to get marginalized, and self-defeating.

"The more prudent approach is to shore up our foreign policy by fostering stronger ties with our regional neighbors, especially those who have similar grievances against China's aggression. Left to themselves, they will be forced to cooperate to come up with ways of dealing with the challenge posed by China," Bello said.

"If in real life 'schools of fishes' can work together to defeat a much stronger predator, Southeast Asian countries can do the same in the Spratlys against China," Bello added.

After a brief program, the protesters peacefully dispersed.