Navy sends ship to Batanes to deter foreign poachers
The Philippine Navy’s first missile-capable frigate, the BRP Jose Rizal, is in Batanes to conduct maritime and security patrols after foreigners believed engaged in illegal fishing were spotted in waters off the province.
The maritime patrol was in response to the request of Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the Naval Forces Northern Luzon, “to conduct regular maritime patrol in the waters and territories of [the province] due to the sightings of illegal foreign poachers,” her office said in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Last week, a suspected Taiwanese vessel was spotted fishing illegally in provincial waters based on photos taken by local fisherman Rodel Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said that about six foreigners were spotted on the vessel with the name Kai Shyang with vessel number BK-8312 near Mavulis Island on March 5.
Mavulis is an inhabited island in Batanes, the country’s northernmost province which is closest to Taiwan.
Refuge
In 2019, the military built a concrete shelter on Mavulis to provide refuge to fishermen and soldiers as the province combats illegal fishing in the country’s northern fishing grounds.
“They even went close to the vicinity of Basco to fish,” Gutierrez told the Inquirer, referring to the capital town of the province.
“They are already invading our islands,” he said.
He lamented the lack of law enforcement in the area which he said has emboldened foreign fisherfolk to illegally operate off Batanes for the past five years.
“They are making our waters their fishing ground because there is no action done to apprehend them,” he said.
Cayco said Cmdr. Jonathan Layno, naval safety officer, assured her during their meeting of the Philippine Navy’s “commitment in safeguarding our territories, natural resources and sovereignty, including the northernmost frontier.”
Batanes, she added, was ready to work with the AFP “to achieve our shared goal of maritime security.”
During his visit to Batanes in February last year, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said he wanted more military presence and the development of more military structures in the province.
According to Teodoro, Batanes is “the spearhead of the Philippines as far as the northern baseline is concerned.”
In the past years, the province has served as one of the training sites for the annual “Balikatan” (shoulder-to-shoulder) military exercises between Filipino and US troops.
