Oceana Philippines reiterated its call for transparency at sea to protect the lives of fishermen amid the recent sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese ship in the West Philippine Sea. It asked the government to adopt a vessel monitoring system to track the behavior of fishing vessels within and outside the country’s territorial waters. “Our fisheries laws are clear on requiring tracking device for commercial fishing vessels, but if we continue to ignore its importance in deterring illegal fishing and possible human rights abuses, and take the business-as-usual mindset, our own people will face the grave consequences,” Oceana Philippines vice president Gloria Ramos said.

Simeon, L. M. (2019, June 23). Gov't urged to install vessel monitoring system. The Philippine Star, p. B4.