Philippines sovereignty not negotiable — Palace

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is no slave to China, Malacañang said yesterday, as it faces mounting criticism over President Duterte’s silence on the sinking of a Filipino fishing boat after it was hit by a Chinese vessel near Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea last June 9.

Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said Duterte is just being cautious and is waiting for all the facts to come in before making a declaration on the incident.

“We can never be slaves to anyone,” Panelo said at a press briefing yesterday.

“We have to determine exactly which among the two versions is true. We have to cautiously walk on this. We can’t issue statements without the facts,” Panelo added. “(The President) is not silent. He is waiting for the facts to set in before he makes any declaration.”

After leaving F/B Gem-Vir I (Gemver) capsized and its 22 crew floundering in the water, the Chinese vessel hurriedly left without rescuing the fishermen. A Vietnamese fishing boat arrived hours later to help the fishermen.

China, through its embassy, has disputed the Filipino fishermen’s account and insisted that the Chinese ship did not abandon them. The Chinese embassy also claimed that Chinese ship Yuemaobinyu 42212 decided to leave after it was “suddenly besieged” by seven or eight Filipino boats. 

In a recent interview, fishing boat owner Felix dela Torre said he felt that the Philippines is a slave to China because Filipinos no longer have rights over their territory.

Panelo insisted that the Duterte administration would not allow any assault on Philippine sovereignty. “Sovereignty is never a subject of negotiation,” the spokesman said, adding that the Chinese fishermen are not allowed to fish in Recto Bank.

“Eh basta’t teritoryo natin, nandoon sila – mali iyon siyempre (If it’s our territory and they’re there, of course it’s wrong),” Panelo said.

“But we do not know if they are fishing there... there are conflicting versions (of the incident),” he added.

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol also said it was just appropriate for Duterte to keep his silence on the issue.

“The President was right in showing restraint in making decisions over that incident. There are a lot of angles that need to be looked at. It is just right that he did not meddle immediately. Why will he speak when the investigation has yet to be clear?” Piñol said at a briefing on Monday.

“People would like the President to respond right away but we have to understand that any statement made by the President is a policy statement. When he is calm and restrained that is because he wants to get a clear picture of the whole thing,” he added.

“We have to understand that the President has to listen to all sides and get every angle possible. The restraint is understandable,” Piñol said.

Also at the press conference, Piñol presented boat cook Richard Blaza and Arlyn dela Torre who owns the fishing boat.

The two, however, were advised not to issue any statement, as their affidavit would be submitted to the Cabinet cluster meeting.

“To those making up stories that the fishermen are not really fishermen and that this is just a drama for us to be angry with China, please stop. Those are not true,” Piñol said.

“What they are hurt about is the stories that they intentionally wanted to be rammed (by the Chinese vessel) so they get to be paid,” he added.

He also said it was still too early to say if the ramming incident was intentional or not.

“Let the proper investigation body establish that based on the testimonies of both sides,” Piñol said.

A clearer picture of the Recto Bank incident is expected very soon, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said yesterday as it concluded its fact-finding investigation.

The PCG has launched a probe on the incident to determine if it was a deliberate ramming or a maritime accident.

“Our investigators were able to get the statement of all the fishermen involved. The report is almost done,” PCG spokesman Capt. Armand Balilo said.

The investigation report was being finalized yesterday afternoon.

Even before the release of the report, Balilo stressed the PCG was unable to respond to the incident because they did not receive a distress call.

“We did not receive any distress call from the incident. We were only able to learn about it from the task force on West Philippines Sea and through reports we received from families of the fishermen,” he said in an interview. – Louise Maureen Simeon, Edu Punay, Cecille Suerte Felipe