President Rodrigo Duterte told Chinese leader Xi Jinping he wanted the crew of the Chinese trawler that hit and sank a Filipino fishing boat on June 9 sanctioned so as to get closure on the incident, a Palace spokesman said Friday.
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“I reiterate our desire for the filing or application of appropriate sanctions against the Chinese crew in the interest of achieving closure, manifesting good faith and demonstrating China’s resort to prevent a repeat of the incident,” Duterte said in his statement, which was read by Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Friday.
Duterte also expressed appreciation to Chinese government for cooperating in the probe and its readiness to provide compensation to Filipino crewmen of Gem-Ver who were left adrift in the open sea after the Chinese trawler bumped their boat.
A day before the meeting between Duterte and Xi, the Department of Foreign Affairs revealed that the owner of the Chinese boat apologized for hitting the Filipino boat and leaving its Filipino crew of 22 fishermen stranded in open water, where they were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen hours after the incident.
READ: Why it took China long time to issue a formal apology?
“We believe that, although this accident was an unintentional mistake of the Chinese fishermen, the Chinese fishing boat should, however, take the major responsibility in the accident,” the apology read.
“The Philippine side is requested to file a specific appeal for civil compensation based on the actual loss,” it added.
The Chinese government had long apologized through diplomatic channels, according to Philippine envoy to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana.
In an interview with reporters, Panelo said the government will help the 22 Filipino fishermen in filing the damage claim and pursuing criminal charges.
Jonel Insigne, the captain of the Filipino boat, said on Thursday that he wanted a personal apology from the captain of the Chinese trawler.
He said the Chinese vessel should be made accountable for abandoning him and his crew members in the open sea after their boat was hit.
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said he did not accept the apology of the Chinese captain but merely “noted” it.
This was contrary to Panelo’s previous statement that the government has accepted the apology.
Panelo backtracked Friday, saying the Philippines mere “accepts the fact” that an apology was made.
Senators said the Chinese should pay damages despite the apology.
Senators Francis Pangilinan and Ralph Recto also observed that the apology referred to the Nansha Island group, instead of Reed Bank, which is inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
Senators Aquilino Pimentel III and Franklin Drilon emphasized that the Chinese needed to compensate the Filipino fishermen and pay moral damages because their lives were put in danger.
Senator Richard Gordon, on the other hand, noted that the apology did not acknowledge that the Chinese did not mention their abandoning the Filipino crew in open water.
He said the abandonment issue is more serious than the property damage.
Senator Risa Hontiveros dismissed the apology, coursed through one of China’s fishing associations, as a “non-apology apology.”
“It is not an official and a formal statement from the Chinese government. It is simply an attempt at an apology to manage its foreign affairs crisis but without any official state approval, recognition or endorsement. Without such an endorsement, the so-called apology is nothing but an act of appeasement.”
Hontiveros said the apology is tainted with “outlandish claims” that the Recto Bank is part of China’s Nansha Islands in the Spratlys.
“May we remind China that the Recto Bank is not in the Spratlys but within our 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone and was recognized as such by the United Nations arbitral tribunal in its 2016 ruling,” Hontiveros said.
