Chinese fishers not allowed in Recto Bank, Palace says
MANILA, Philippines — While Malacañang appears to be wary of issuing statements on the sinking of a Filipino boat near Recto Bank, the presidential spokesman is certain that Chinese fishers should not be in the area.
The 22 Filipino crewmen of fishing boat F/B GemVir 1 said a Chinese vessel rammed their boat at midnight on June 9 and immediately left the scene after the collision.
Asked if Chinese fishermen are allowed to conduct fishing activities in Recto Bank, presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said :"No."
"Siyempre hindi pero hindi pa natin alam kung nagfi-fish sila doon (Of course not, but we do not know yet if they are fishing there)," Panelo said in a press briefing Monday.
Panelo pointed out the conflicting versions of the accounts of the Filipino fishermen and the Chinese side.
"Basta teritoryo natin nandun sila mali 'yun syempre (If it is our territory and they are there that is wrong)," he said.
Policy on sovereignty unchanged
Malacañang once again justified the silence of President Rodrigo Duterte since news broke out about the collision near undisputed Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea, which is within Philippine exclusive economic zone.
According to Panelo, the president is just waiting for the final results of the investigation. He also insisted that the position of Malacañang has not changed.
"As a matter of policy, we always say that we will not allow an assault of our sovereignty. That has not changed," Panelo said.
"Sovereignty is never a subject of negotiation," he added.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier condemned the actions of the Chinese ship for abandoning the Filipino fishermen "to the mercy of the elements."
Lorenzana's statement issued June 12 indicated that the Filipino vessel was anchored when it was hit by the Chinese trawler.
A Vietnamese fishing vessel was in the vicinity when the collision happened and rescued the Filipino fishermen almost six hours after their watercraft sank.
"However, we condemn in the strongest terms the cowardly action of the suspected Chinese fishing vessel and its crew for abandoning the Filipino crew. This is not the expected action from a responsible and friendly people," Lorenzana said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila, on the other hand, claimed that Chinese trawler Yuemaobinyu 42212 was "suddenly besieged" by seven to eight Filipino boats.
"The Chinese captain tried to rescue the Filipino fishermen, but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats. Therefore, having confirmed the fishermen from the Filipino boat were rescued on board of other Filipino fishing boats, 42212 sailed away from the scene," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement released June 15.
Updates in the aftermath of the sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a suspected Chinese trawler.
Justice Undersecretary Adrian Sugay says fishermen and boat owner of F/BGem-Ver, the boat sunk by a Chinese vessel and abandoned at sea in 2019, received their P6 million compensation on May 16.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra confirms "there has been a final settlement of the damage claims of the Gem-Ver fishermen against the owners of the Chinese vessel." — Kristine Joy Patag
The Philippines and China discussed the issue of compensation for the owner and crew of F/B Gem-Ver 1 — a fishing boat that was damaged and then sank in 2019 after an allision with a Chinese fishing vessel in the Recto Bank area of the West Philippine Sea — last week, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra says.
"The [Department of Justice] will lead a small group (DOJ, [Foreign Affairs], [Agriculture/Bureau of Fisheries and Aquartic Resources) to put a close to this festering issue," he says, adding they will meet with their Chinese counterparts on June 2 and 7.
"As far as the Filipino fishermen are concerned, it is important that they recover fully their expenses for the boat repair and the income they lost while the boat was under repair," he also says.
A philanthropist from Shanghai has turned over a commercial fishing vessel to replace F/B Gem-Ver 1, which was damaged and sank in the the Recto Bank allision in June, columnist and special envoy Ramon Tulfo says in a press release.
"The fishing boat, christened as F/B Pengyou, replaced the F/B Gem-Ver 1 that was sunk at Recto Bank in the South China Sea," the Office of the Special Envoy for Public Diplomacy to China says. Recto Bank is part of the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
Tulfo says Xue Chengbuao, a tycoon from Shanghai, turned over the the boat in a ceremony in San Jose, Mindoro Occidental on Sunday.
"F/B Pengyou is 17 meters long and 1.6 meters wide. It weighs 10.6 tons and has a Fuso engine with 160 hp," Tulfo's office also says.
"Pengyou" is Mandarin Chinese for friend.
Presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo says there is no contradiction in the Philippine Coast Guard's report that the June 9 Recto Bank incident is a “very serious maritime casualty” and President Rodrigo Duterte’s earlier statement that the incident was a "little maritime incident."
"It's serious in the sense that when you leave our countrymen there then that's a serious matter," Panelo explains, adding that even if it is a serious matter "you cannot blow that and make it into an international crisis."
He adds the Philippines will "definitely" seek accountability from China over the allision that sank F/B Gem-Ver 1.
He says China will be the one to decide on how it should deal with or make accountable the crew of the Chinese vessel that left 22 Filipino fishermen after the allision.
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