The Philippines Must Not Turn Its Back On The Scarborough Shoal

          The Scarborough Shoal is not an inconsequential place. It is a vitally important fishery upon which thousands of families depend for their fish and protein. China has made claim to most of the South China Sea. Even though the Scarborough Shoal and other contested shoals and islands are within the maritime waters of the Philippines, and even though an international tribunal has declared these areas belong to the Philippines, China has chosen to disregard this.

          The Philippines should not disregard Chinese actions. Not by a declaration of war or by any violent intention, but by making it clear that the Philippines will not just roll over and relinquish their rights to these vital fisheries. The Philippines can limit trade with China, including halting Chinese mining activities, hotels, casinos, etc., if China proceeds to develop and destroy the Scarborough Shoal. Massive Chinese projects in the Philippines, including wind, solar, oil and gas projects and more can be halted if China proceeds down this path. 

           It cannot be business as usual for an impoverished nation whose people depend on healthy fisheries. 

           At the very least, the Philippines should insist that there be no development on the Scarborough Shoal. Already China has turned other reef areas, islands, atolls and shoals into military bases, thereby destroying important ecosystems, seabeds, coral reefs and fisheries. 

           It is also important that the fishing that takes place in the Scarborough Shoal remains the small scale fishing operations that have existed there for centuries. If Chinese factory fishing fleets and trawlers continue to work the area, there will soon be nothing left but yet another ocean dead zone.

           It is in the vital interest of all the people in the region that depend on the South China Sea, including people in China, that the South China Sea not be turned into a dead zone. Not that long ago, countless sea turtles and other marine life were found on Chinese fishing vessels. These animals were illegally poached in Philippine waters that China now claims.

          Now that China has asserted that the Scarborough Shoal belongs to China, not the Philippines, there may be the complete destruction of marine life in that area.  

          No matter how militaristic China becomes, it is still not in their long term interest to destroy the South China Sea, including the Scarborough Shoal.

           It is not in the Philippine national interest to ignore what happens in the South China Sea, and  to give up on its right to the Scarborough Shoal and other places that belong to the Philippines. It is in the vital interest of the Philippines, because people need healthy oceans, food and fish. So do the Chinese. Dredged and ruined coral reefs, seabeds, islands, atolls and shoals cannot feed people. Neither can places completely ruined by factory fishing and trawlers. Not a single person in China or elsewhere can eat a military base, an airplane, a weapon. The Philippines has a long history where the people are connected to a living, vibrant, healthy ocean. Too much has already been destroyed. Too much is already lost. Do not let the Scarborough Shoal be the next causality of mankind's wanton destruction of the oceans.