MODUS VIVENDI WITH CHINESE COAST GUARD 

BOLINAO— Sail close to the Chinese Coast guard ships, you get shooed away; stay away from them as you fish, you are left alone.

This was how the fishermen who regularly fish at the disputed Scarborough/Panatag Shoal learned to co-exist with the Chinese Coast Guard.

The same fishermen sailed off Thursday evening unperturbed about a reported claim of a congressman about continued harassment from the Chinese Coast Guard as they fish outside the disputed area.

They said there are always four big Chinese vessels in the area, strategically positioned in all directions from north, south, east to west.

Ronnel Estrera, 30, told a PUNCH reporter while he and his 20 other companions were busy loading their fishing boat with 80 blocks of crushed ice for their expected catch, said they had not been to Scarborough Shoal for the last three months because schools of fish during that period were scarce.

But he said his group is set to return because the fishes are back at this time.

He said there were instances in the past when the Chinese Coast Guard intimidated the fishermen by training their searchlights on their boats because they came close to the ships’ locations.

He said those harassed are the ones who get close to the Chinese Coast Guard so they stay away from them and still catch plenty of fish. He said they could get 20 tons of fish for only a night of fishing in their areas around Panatag Shoal.

“Others stay longer for a week of fishing, he added. “Any boat that gets close to them gets shooed away,” he said.

For his part, Roberto Mahadas, 53, who claimed to have been fishing in Scarborough Shoal for 30 years, said he had never experienced harassment from Chinese Coast Guard because he and his colleagues maintain a distance from the ships.

“If you stay 10 to 20 miles, you will not be driven away,” he added. “It’s only those who dare come close to the ships that get harassed,” he said.

“Kung papasok ka sa bunganga na may barko ng Chinese talagang bawal yun kailangan sa gilid-gilid lang (If you get inside the mouth of the water where the is Chinese vessel, that is really prohibited so you just have to stay in the vicinity),” Mahadas said.

Both Estrera and Mahadas are from Masinloc, Zambales but work with a fishing vessel operator from this town. (PhilStar Wire Service)

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