The Chinese government had long issued a verbal apology over the June 9 sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese trawler near Recto Bank, Philippine Ambassador to Beijing Jose Santiago Sta. Romana said Thursday.
“The Chinese government, through the foreign ministry, has expressed they are very sorry about the incident through diplomatic channels already,” Sta. Romana said in a press briefing in Beijing.
But the government insisted that it wanted a public and written formal apology, and “that’s what took a bit of time,” he added.
“We thought it was necessary for the Chinese boat owner to explain it himself not to me, not through DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs], not through the media, but directly to the public and that’s why there was this letter,” the envoy said.
This revelation came after the letter of apology was made public by the DFA hours before President Rodrigo Duterte flew to China where he is expected to raise the 2016 Hague ruling that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea.
“This apology represents the shipowner but in a sense, I think through diplomatic discussion with the Chinese side, we have made it clear that this had a negative impact, an adverse impact on the bilateral relations particularly on the Chinese image,” Sta. Romana said.
The Chinese boat left 22 Filipino fishermen abandoned at sea for hours before they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.
The envoy noted that the memorandum sent to Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. was a result of “intense negotiations.”
“There are additional details like they knew they heard the shouts for help but they couldn’t understand the language and they were overcome by fear. And then that they reported instead to the fishing authorities of China what happened as they were leaving,” Sta. Romana said.
“It does not excuse them for their responsibility. Their responsibility includes that by the way, the fact that they did not rescue our fishermen,” he added.
Sta. Romana said the Chinese fishermen should have reported the incident to Philippine fishing authorities.
“I think if they knew they were Filipinos maybe it would have been a different story,” he said.
Meanwhile, the sanctions on the Chinese crew members and the compensation for Filipino fishermen are still subject to further discussion, he said.
“But we will probably proceed and try to help out the fishermen and [the] owner in the Philippines. And the question is how to quantify all this. So you obviously need expert advice,” Sta. Romana said.
He said the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources and the Department of Justice will possibly play a role on this matter.
The Guangdong Fishery Mutual Insurance Association, which counts the owner of the Chinese trawler as member, has already asked the Filipino fishermen to seek compensation based on the actual loss.
Sta. Romana also said it was established during the exchanges with the Chinese officials that the boat from China’s Guangdong province was not part of the Chinese maritime militia and that June 9 incident was only an accident.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Thursday clarified that he did not accept the apology of the owner of the Chinese vessel that rammed and sank a Filipino fishing boat near Recto Bank in June, but he merely noted it.
“Hey morons! I merely NOTED the Chinese apology. I did not accept it. I am not a fisherman,” Locsin said, in his Twitter account hours after the Department of Foreign Affairs posted a memorandum addressed to him, which contained a translated portion of the apology.
Locsin also observed that Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo “merely expressed satisfaction with the Chinese apology for the incident and the offer of compensation and nothing more.”
The owner of the Filipino fishing boat, Felix dela Torre, told GMA News the admission of a mistake was welcome, but he would have preferred a personal apology from the Chinese shipowner.
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