More than 1,500 fishermen in Masinloc have totally deserted the contested Scarborough Shoal, which for decades served as their traditional fishing ground. Fisherman Bobby Roldan revealed they have not been near the shoal since January, as the fear of getting driven away by the Chinese vessels occupying the area has forced them to look for other areas to fish or to find alternative sources of livelihood. “It’s now scary to go there. The harassment of Filipino fishermen by the Chinese Coast Guard occupying these islands in the West Philippine Sea is a serious threat to us,” Roldan, the vice chair of the fisher group Pamalakaya in Central Luzon, told the Inquirer in interview on Thursday.

Aglibot, J. R. (2021, April 24). Zambales fishers abandon 'dangerous' Panatag Shoal. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A5.