PH asks China to straighten its ‘rotten coast guards’  

Following the surfacing of a video showing Chinese Coast Guards taking the catch of Filipino fishermen in thw Scarborough Shoal (Panatag Shoal), the Philippine government urged China to “discipline” these “rotten” guardsmen, Malacañang on Monday said.

Despite acknowledging the “unforgivable” act of Chinese Coast Guards and asking China to do something about it, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque believed that “harassment” is such a strong word to call the incident.

“China should discipline its rotten coast guard personnel. This is not acceptable, [but] I would not say it was harassment,” Roque said.

He stressed that harassment happened when the country was under the leadership of former president Benigno Aquino III. During that time, Filipino fishermen were reportedly shooed away with water cannon while making a living in the disputed waters.

The president’s spokesman said that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua are already in talks to stop the incident from happening again.

He clarified that though Chinese coast guards taking the catch of Filipino fishermen may be true, their act should not affect the general relationship of the two countries because what they did is not part of the official policy of Beijing.