The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
“The sea cannot be guarded by those who destroyed it.”
This strong rebuke greeted China’s recent claim of establishing a “nature reserve” around Bajo de Masinloc, as both government officials and civic leaders denounced Beijing’s move as a deceptive ploy to tighten control over Philippine waters.
National Security Adviser Eduardo Año minced no words, calling the claim a “direct violation of Philippine sovereignty” and a mockery of international law. “Since 2016, evidence has shown large-scale harvesting of endangered species and reef destruction by Chinese fishermen. To now claim stewardship over an ecosystem they themselves damaged is both contradictory and misleading,” Año stressed.
Echoing the warning, civic leader Dr. Jose Antonio “Ka Pep” Goitia described the move as “hypocrisy of the highest order,” pointing to the economic toll on Filipino fishing families. “Go to Subic and you will see the truth—boats left to rot, fathers forced into odd jobs, families abandoning traditions. These are not isolated cases. They are the human cost of China’s aggression,” he said.
The controversy intensified after another maritime confrontation erupted on September 16, when Philippine and Chinese vessels reportedly collided near Bajo de Masinloc. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) denounced Beijing’s “regulatory measures” as illegal harassment, with reports confirming that even a humanitarian mission to deliver fuel and provisions to Filipino fishermen faced blockades from nine Chinese ships.
Goitia warned that China’s conservation narrative is a “contrived legal excuse” meant to justify military presence and further harassment in the West Philippine Sea. “China’s so-called ‘reserve’ is a cover for unlawful occupation. The world must see through this deception, because it is not about protecting the sea—it is about illegally taking it,” he said.
Calling for unity, Goitia urged the government and civil society to rally behind fishing communities through fuel subsidies, modernized boats, and stronger protection of traditional fishing grounds. “Only the Filipino fishermen, who have loved, respected, and lived by the sea, can truly be its stewards. And it is our duty as a nation to defend them,” he concluded. TRACY CABRERA