Findings of the Philippine Coast Guard after the probe it held on the collision between a Filipino fishing boat and a Chinese trawler appears detrimental to the local fishermen that figured in the incident, according to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. who had seen the report.
Locsin said the findings of a government investigation “doesn’t paint our fishermen in the brightest lights.”
In a televised interview, Locsin disclosed that of the Filipino boat’s 22 crew members, only their cook was awake before they were hit by the Chinese vessel last month near Recto Bank, which is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“I got the Coast Guard report immediately… Our investigation was finished. It was exhaustive. It’s not, I got to tell you, it doesn’t paint our fishermen in the brightest lights,” Locsin said. “They had no lookout, even the enemies of the President says you need an assigned lookout. They didn’t… Everybody was asleep.”
The cook, he said, “had a small light.”
“Whether or not that light should have been sufficient to warn the oncoming Chinese vessel, I don’t know,” said Locsin, adding that after the ramming, the Chinese boat “backed up and they went.”
Locsin said the Philippines immediately filed a diplomatic protest with Beijing after the incident and delivered remarks at the UN Headquarters in New York where he said abandoning anyone in need is a felony.
Abandonment unforgivable
“Abandoning persons in danger is covered not just by UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) but maritime law in general…There is a crime of abandoning a person in danger,” said Locsin previously.
The Filipino fishermen earlier said that they were left adrift for hours before they were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel.
However, Locsin said he was not authorized to reveal more about the Coast Guard’s findings into the incident.
He earlier objected to a joint investigation by Manila and Beijing into the incident.
“In a joint investigation, I do not believe that China would allow our Coast Guard to go to Chinese soil, no more than we would allow Chinese Coast Guard to step on Philippine soil to interview our fishermen will they allow us to interview the captain of the Chinese vessel,” he said.
“When you come up with separate investigations, the two results are there, then you can compare notes and say why is it like this?” he added.
Rody draws line
The Philippine (Benham) Rise and Malampaya gas field are ours.
This was the short, but firm, message President Rodrigo Duterte relayed as he stressed the country’s sovereign claim to the said maritime territories in the West Philippine Sea.
Mr. Duterte made the remark as he graced the Philippine Air Force’s 72nd founding anniversary last Tuesday night at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, expressing his gratitude to the PAF’s service to the country and the people.
“I acknowledge your unwavering commitment to your sworn duty to protect our territorial lines of defense through aerial reconnaissance and maritime patrol missions in the West Philippine Sea and of course which is really ours — the Philippine Rise,” said the Chief Executive in his speech.
“Also noteworthy are your efforts in securing (the) Malampaya natural gas (field) off the coast of Palawan, which is ours,” he added.
In 2012, the Philippine Rise, also called Benham Rise, a 13-million-hectare underwater plateau located in the country’s eastern border, was confirmed by the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf as part of the Philippines’ continental shelf.
No comments:
Post a Comment