Boat captain dismayed over Duterte's remarks on Recto Bank collision
MANILA, Philippines — The captain of a Filipino fishing boat sank by a Chinese vessel near Recto Bank expressed disappointment over President Rodrigo Duterte's comments on the incident.
After more than a week of staying silent on the issue, the president downplayed the collision and called it a "little maritime accident."
Junel Insigne, the captain of F/B Gem-Vir 1, earlier backed out of his supposed meeting with the president in Manila.
"Nalulungkot po ako dahil balewala lang po 'yung pagbangga sa amin. Paano po kung marami namatay po sa amin," Insigne told ABS-CBN's "Umagang Kay Ganda" Tuesday morning.
Insigne and 21 other Filipino fishermen survived the collision but their boat sank. A Vietnamese fishing vessel in the vicinity rescued the Filipino fishermen hours after the incident.
The captain of the Filipino boat added that the government should at least acknowledge that the Chinese ship rammed them.
"Anuhin lang po sana na talagang binangga po kami talaga," he said.
Speaking at the 121st anniversary of the Philippine Navy in Cavite, Duterte said tension could not arise with China just because of the collision in the West Philippine Sea.
"The only thing we can do is to wait and give the other party the right to be heard. That’s important. China, you have given a lot of things. What’s the truth?" Duterte said. — Patricia Lourdes Viray
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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