Our group Kalayaan ATIN ITO with more than
ten thousand Filipino youth volunteers is actively engaging our fellow
Filipinos to participate in calling for the adherence of all claimant countries
to the peaceful and legal resolution of the dispute at the Spratly Islands.
Last December 2015, some of the volunteers conducted a peaceful patriotic voyage
at the Pag-Asa Island, Municipality of Kalayaan, Palawan calling all parties
for the adherence to international law to peacefully and legally resolve the
dispute.
Through this patriotic voyage, we were able to draw the attention of
the international community to the pressing issue at the West Philippine Sea and
the Filipino people realized the need to unite for this national fight. We
saw with our own eyes that we have lost to China the heart of the Kalayaan Island Group
Municipality through their triangle militarized zone from Fiery Cross Reef to
Subi Reef and Mischief Reef. Inside this triangle, are the other military bases
that China has built.
Today it
became impossible for our Armed Forces to pass through this triangle as we have
experienced when our Philippine Navy tried to tail us but passed through a
route outside this triangle and this was admitted by the Armed Forces. Our
fishermen too cannot fish in this fishing grounds. In fact, in the entire West Philippine
Sea, we have lost its value as a fishing ground to China.
While at
Pag-Asa island, the seat of our Kalayaan Municipality, everyday Chinese Coast Guard
patrol ship with bow number 46708 patrolled the shores of our island even
inside the 12 nautical miles’ territorial water. Also, almost every day, Chinese
Coastguard helicopter patrolled the shores of the Pag-Asa island too close that
we were able to record it on video through a low tech mobile phone. This acts
blatantly violates our sovereignty and clearly disregarded international law
that is supposed to rule the sea.
China is
walking the talk when it declared that it will not heed to whatever will be the
result of the ongoing arbitration and will continue to militarize the West Philippine
Sea and do whatever they want because they claim that it belongs to them.
China is using
the covert intent to control the 5trillon dollars trade that passes the South China
Sea annually and the exploitation of minerals and natural gas deposits at Reed
Bank and other areas at the West Philippine Sea to cover their real intention.
These are just collateral gains.
Building a secured military storage
for their weapons of mass destruction (WOMD) is the greater evil in the
militarization of the West Philippine Sea. It will become impossible for any
opposing military power to destroy these facilities once their weapons of mass
destructions are stored in these facilities without destroying Palawan and
other Luzon and Mindanao islands that are within the blast zone of any type of
WOMD. Currently, Cuarteron Reef, another
artificial island China has built inside our Extended Continental Shelf is now
in its final phase in the installation of High Frequency Radar that will
complete Chinese control of the entire South China Sea and the West Philippine
Sea.
Palawan is
just 135 nautical miles away from Mischief Reef which is being developed by
China as submarine harbor and at least 700 nautical miles away from China, way
too far to be damaged by the blast of weapons of mass destructions from their
militarized zone.
True enough, on February 18, 2016, the United
States and Taiwan reported that China had deployed missiles to Woody Island,
part of the Paracels chain and China confirmed that it has indeed weapons on the
disputed island in the South China Sea. Next
will be the deployment of China’s weapons of mass destruction at their
artificial islands inside our EEZ at the Kalayaan Island Group
Municipality.
The volunteers believe that until the whole
world will agree to resolve the dispute legally and peacefully based on
international law, there will be danger of arms confrontation between claimant
countries which the world will not need.
Thus, the youth volunteers composed mostly of
college students representing every province that came from State and private
Colleges and Universities in the 81 provinces nationwide will conduct another
peaceful patriotic voyage for the whole month of April 2016 at the Kalayaan
Island Group.
The patriotic voyage is a “bayanihan” project
wherein all citizens are expected to participate as this fight against the evil project
of China does not concern only the Filipino people but the entire humanity including
the peace loving Chinese people.
By bringing
the volunteers to the heart of the problem at the West Philippine Sea, the
volunteers will serve as credible messengers about this actual invasion by
China and through forums and symposiums, we will be able to encourage and
inspire the country to unite and take a stand as a nation to protect our
sovereign rights. For only when we are united as a nation will we have the
right to ask help from the international community.
At present,
we are in the process of enlisting partners to help us raise the logistical
requirements of the volunteers from the different provinces.
We launched
the “Adopt a Volunteer” program wherein partners can directly sponsor the
logistical requirements of the volunteers such as their transportation fare (the transportation fares may vary depending on the location
and mode of transportation) from
their respective provinces to the province of Palawan; food and water for 30
days (P3,000.00 which is computed at 100 per day) and the rent of the sea
vessel (lancha) that will be chartered to bring the volunteers to the Kalayaan
Island Group from mainland Palawan (P7,000 per volunteer). We also launched the
“T-Shirt Para sa Kalayaan” wherein Kalayaan ATIN ITO (KAI) round neck t-shirts
can be bought online at P370.00 each and KAI polo shirts at P600.00 each with
free delivery. Another program is the
“Piso para sa Kalayaan” wherein cash donations will be sent to the RCBC Savings
Bank with account name WWW.PILIPINO.ORG.PH INC – 75900074610, Smart Money
5299-9412-9109 or Globe GCash 0917-312-8804.
We believe that not all of
us have the material time to join the youth in Palawan but supporting us
through financial assistance is equally important to accomplish this historical
patriotic mission that we all want to be part.
Maraming salamat po at Mabuhay Kayo!
KALAYAAN ATIN ITO
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