MANILA, Philippines — The collision between a Chinese cargo vessel and a Philippine fishing boat has nothing to do with Beijing's expansive claims over the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, the Philippines' top diplomat said Wednesday.
Search and rescue operations are still ongoing for the 14 missing Filipinos aboard FV Liberty 5 after their boat collided with Hong Kong-flagged MV Vienna Wood in the waters of Occidental Mindoro over the weekend.
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Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Philippine government has yet to determine whether there is negligence on the part of the Chinese bulk carrier.
"In that respect it has nothing to do with the South China Sea. Whether or not China was there a fishing boat could have been hit by a commercial vessel, especially one that large," Locsin said at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay online forum.
Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Dodo Dulay further noted that the incident off the coast of Occidental Mindoro was far away from the West Philippine Sea, the portion of the South China Sea within Philippine exclusive economic zone.
Dulay said in the same online forum that the maritime incident happened within Philippine territory.
"This is no different from any other incident involving vessels within our territory," Dulay said.
Dulay added that the work now rests on the Department of Transportation to investigate whether there was a breach of protocol as mariners are obligated to report such incident.
Initial investigation from the Philippine Coast Guard showed that the Chinese vessel sent a distress call three hours after the collision last Saturday.
"We have to emphasize that because this is being politicized, they are making this about the West Philippine Sea but this is Mindoro. This has no difference with two Philippine-owned vessels that collided with each other," Dulay said.
These remarks from the DFA officials echo the sentiments of the Chinese Embassy in Manila that priority should be given to the rescue of missing crew members and passengers while investigations are ongoing.
"Pending the investigation, we hope all parties refrain from politicalizing the issue and seeking narrow interests from such a humanitarian tragedy," the Chinese Embassy said in a statement Tuesday.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros called the maritime incident a hit-and-run and called on the government not to downplay the incident.
Citing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the opposition senator said ships must render assistance to the other ship and its crew and passengers after a collision.
"What happened was that they collided with our countrymen and left them there with no mercy," Hontiveros said.
Around this time last year, a Chinese vessel rammed into and sank a Philippine fishing boat near Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea. The Chinese ship immediately left the scene after the allision and left the 22 crew members of FV Gem-Ver 1 floating at sea for hours before being rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.
President Rodrigo Duterte downplayed the incident as a "little maritime accident", similar to the remarks of the Chinese foreign ministry that it was just "an ordinary maritime traffic accident."