Fish-taking in Panatag an imperfect barter: Palace

FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday echoed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s statement that the practice of Chinese Coast Guard personnel taking catch from Filipino fishermen in the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal is barter, albeit an imperfect one. (Photo By NASA, Public Domain)

MANILA — Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday echoed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s statement that the practice of Chinese Coast Guard personnel taking catch from Filipino fishermen in the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal is barter, albeit an imperfect one.

“Ang sabi nga (ng) Presidente, barter, pero walang pagkakasundo sa valuation. So hindi po siya talagang perfected contract of barter (The President said it was barter but there was no agreement on valuation. So, it’s really not a perfected contract of barter),” Roque said in a briefing in Cotabato City.

He reiterated that it was Duterte himself who said that because there is no agreement on the valuation of Filipino fishermen’s catch, it means that there is no contract.

He also pointed out that a proper barter should involve a contract where both parties agree on an exchange of goods and services without the use of money.

“Presidente na rin ang nagsabi walang agreement sa valuation, so wala talagang kontrata ng barter kasi bago ka magkaroon ng barter, kinakailangan magkasundo sa lahat, including ‘yung presyo (The President himself said that there’s no agreement on the valuation, so there’s no contract on barter because before there’s a barter, there’s a need to agree on all terms, including the price of the goods),” Roque explained.

He, meanwhile, denied that Duterte was preempting the investigation being conducted by the Chinese government in relation to its Coast Guard personnel forcibly taking fish from Filipino fishermen in the Panatag Shoal.

“Hindi naman po siguro (I don’t think so),” Roque said when asked by reporters.

Lost in translation

Duterte earlier blamed the language barrier between Filipino fishermen and Chinese Coast Guard personnel for the barter’s valuation problem.

“It was a barter in exchange for the — ‘yung isda (fish),” Duterte said in a speech at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) during the agency’s 120th anniversary celebration on Monday night.

“Eh ang problema, ang valuation. Hindi tayo nagkakaintindihan dito (The problem is valuation. We don’t understand each other),” he added.

Duterte also refused to call the act of the Chinese Coast Guard taking catch as a “seizure.”

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua has assured that if the Panatag incident is proven, the Chinese government will discipline erring coast guards in accordance with their own regulations.

He said that as a rule, their government will not allow the Chinese Coast Guard “to do anything that is harmful to the Filipino fishermen.”

He added, “friendly arrangements” between the Philippines and China currently allow Filipino fishermen to fish and “that will not be changed.”