MANILA, Philippines – It was an ambitious and historic dream: to travel to the West Philippine Sea, an area where the Philippines exercises sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone.
But the journey – from getting the green light from government to actually making it to Philippine-occupied features in the West Philippine Sea – was not easy, mostly because of China’s actions in those waters.
In the end, following harassment from Chinese ships in other Philippine missions – including a nearby military resupply mission – the MV Kapitan Felix Oca’s captain made the difficult decision to turn back for the safety of the volunteers on board.
In this episode of Rappler Talk, we talk to Atin Ito co-convenors Rafaela David (Akbayan president) and Edicio dela Torre (Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement president and vice chairperson) about the mission and why their call to “normalize” civilian journeys to those tense waters still resonate.
Catch the interview live on Rappler on Friday, December 15, at 11 am. – Rappler.com
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