A fisherman allegedly harassed by Chinese vessels last week claimed on Thursday that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is preventing him from airing his complaints.
According to Jun Veneracion’s report on “24 Oras,” fisherman Larry Hugo said two vessels blocked him from going to a sandbar near Kalayaan Island.
Hugo lamented that aside from being blocked by the Chinese Coast Guard, Philippine forces were also preventing him from speaking out.
“Tiyak ko po, magagalit na naman ‘yan sila sa akin. Kasi binabawalan nila ako magsalita, ay hindi rin ako makapigil minasn. Nagagalit na rin ako minsan sa kanila, na may takot din na kahit papaano,” Hugo said.
Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, meanwhile, denied Hugo’s claims.
“There are always fake news spreading in a society. Just like a few days ago, there was fake news about China harassing the fishermen. There was no such thing,” Huang said.
In response, Hugo maintained the credibility of his videos and accused the Chinese Embassy of being blind to the truth.
“Bulag sila sa mga picture na pinadala ko saka video. Pakiparating na lang doon sa nagsasabi niyan na bulag sila sa katotohanan. Papaaanong nagkaroon ng barko at mga ano diyan,” Hugo said.
Hugo also said that the vessel he saw bore the number 5103.
Reports of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative in March 2020 show that the Chinese Coast Guard vessel numbered 5103 is a Shuwu-class boat that was involved in the standoff at Scarborough Shoal in 2012.
On Wednesday, Hugo said he saw the Philippine Navy patrol near Pag-Asa Island in Palawan, where 14 vessels of Chinese Coast Goard were monitoring the area.
“Nag-patrol ‘yung Philipppine Navy natin kasi siguro nga nahihiya na rin sila na ganyan nakabalita na hindi sila nagpa-patrol. Nag-pull out po ‘yung 11 na barko, tatlo po ‘yung natira,” he said.
Hugo also said that state forces cut off the signal in the area to prevent fishermen from sharing their complaints.
This was denied by the AFP Western Command.
“Ang atin pong [AFP] ay ginagalang po ‘yung karapatan na siya ay ano, ang bawat Pilipino ay magpahayag ng freedom of speech,” Colonel Stephen Penetrante of the AFP Western Command said.
“Ginagalang ho ‘yan ng ating mga kasundaluhan. Alam po nila ‘yan,” he added.
The AFP Western Command also denied that it is cutting the cellphone signal in Pag-Asa Island to silence fishermen.
“Ang personnel po natin na naka-assign diyan sa island ay wala pong kakayahan o capability na putulin upang i-distrupt ang communication, cellphone signal diyan,” he said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News
