Sometimes things that were always expected from a person could be a promise, an unspoken one. Promise is the same having a trust to someone for making them to do things that even it is hard for them to acquire or achieve.
The current president used to do that. He once made a promise that he won’t give up the West Philippine Sea. However, he neglects the Philippine Maritime rights in the West Philippine Sea. Duterte administration is refusing to enforce Republic Act No. 8550 or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998 to protect both Philippine maritime and environmental interests in the West Philippine Sea.
In the month of June, news came up and triggered Filipinos that while anchored near Recto Bank (Reed Bank) in the West Philippine Sea, the captain of the ship who is Junel Insigne sank with its 22-men crew and was abandoned by the fleeing Chinese fishing vessel identified as the Yuemaobinyu. It was said that the Chinese fishing vessel was the one who was guilty for the incident. The lives of Filipino fishermen were put at risk adrift and in the dark in our very own Philippine waters. It was kindly brutal to our fishermen for this kind of thing. We know that we don’t have right to fight for them because China is truly strong country than ours. By simply put nuclear bomb to our country and any seconds our lives will disappear.
This experience seems we’re back in the past. We are a country that has faced countless adversities throughout our history: occupied by the western powers, humiliated by the power of Japan and many more intruders who we became slaves because of them. And now, we currently face the imperial mighty China, who made these problems to us. For this problem has seriously hurt China-Philippines bilateral relations. It may affect the economic fate of the Philippines. The relationship of China and Philippines will affect Chinese investment interest in the Philippines but it is certain that many Chinese firms will think twice before they purchase any serious stakes in the Filipino economy and also if we didn’t defend our rights, we might lose natural resources that serve as our asset in the country. West Philippines Sea is contains lucrative fisheries and huge oil and gas reserves are believe to lie beneath its seabed.
According to the article that I’ve read, under international law, Philippines has sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) not sovereignty in the West Philippines Sea. Sovereign rights allow Philippines to fish and enjoy maritime resources. Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea explained more what a sovereign right is. He said that you don't need to be an owner of property to be able to use and enjoy it. For example, if you rent property, you don't own it but are using and enjoying it, and are entitled to even defend it against trespassers, because you have the sole right to possess it.
Even we don’t have sovereignty over EEZ, doesn’t mean we cannot protect it. We still have right to assert or defend our rights to the natural resources in it.