The South China Sea is a major fish source for the Philippines that is crucial to its food security, political analysts said on Sunday, belying President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s claim that it couldn’t quarrel with China over fish. China’s unregulated fishing activities in the disputed waterway, where the Southeast Asian nation gets 27% of its fish catch, threatens the livelihood of thousands of Filipino fishermen, said Sheena A. Valenzuela, a national security analyst at the Ateneo De Manila University Policy Center in Manila. “It’s resources are crucial to the food security of Filipinos, contributing to coastal livelihoods and export trade,” she said in an e-mail. China’s illegal fishing activities “could also lead to the loss in livelihood of about 627,000 Filipino fishermen.”

Atienza, K. A. T. (2021, April 26). Duterte wrong on fish data — political analysts. BusinessWorld, pp. S1/10.