Chinese Coast Guard chases away Reporter’s Notebook crew from Panatag Shoal

GMA’s Jun Veneracion talking to members of the Chinese Coast Guard (Screengrab photo from Facebook video of Reporter’s Notebook)

Members of the Chinese Coast Guard did not allow the crew of GMA’s Reporter’s Notebook to conduct an interview for a documentary in Panatag Shoal in early November.

This incident happened last November 8 and aired on GMA on Thursday night, November 22.

In an article published by GMA, journalist Jun Veneracion said two Chinese speedboats moved towards their direction and “made a beeline” as the television crew reached Panatag Shoal.

“Without the permission of China, you cannot carry out the interview here,” a member of the Chinese Coast Guard told Veneracion’s team, stressing that the latter is in “the sea area of the People’s Republic of China.

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Responding to this, the journalist told the Chinese officer, “But this is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.”

The Panatag Shoal is a rich fishing ground located within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and is 124 nautical miles from Zambales.

But as Veneracion sensed that his conversation with the Chinese Coast Guard member was “going nowhere,” he decided to just leave the area and asked for 30 minutes so he and his crew can pack their things up.

“If you don’t leave here, we will make a forced matter,” the Chinese officer told the Reporter’s Notebook team.

Veneracion answered back, “You need not [to] warn us, sir.”

The journalist said that the Chinese Coast Guard “didn’t leave the area until we were miles away from Panatag Shoal.”

Veneracion and his team went back to Panatag Shoal a few months after they first travelled there. He said they returned to “check the current situation in the area.”

To recall, the Reporter’s Notebook in June 2018 reported that some personnel of the Chinese Coast Guard were taking fish from Filipino fishermen in Panatag Shoal.

[READ: China Coast Guard takes fishes from Pinoy fishermen in Panatag Shoal — reports says]