PRESIDENT Duterte does not want the Recto Bank incident to be blown into an international crisis that could endanger trade and diplomatic relations between two countries and affect the situation of overseas Filipino workers in China and Filipino fishermen in the area, Malacanang said on Tuesday.
The Palace said the Philippine government can also sue the Chinese fishermen with reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property in a local court should the facts prove it.
“The President is a very cautious person and as a lawyer he is trained to listen to all sides especially because there are adversarial claims,” said Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo in a Palace briefing. “The versions are different that is why he is being more careful because he does not want this blown into an international crisis given the fact that—you know it look a along time for the bilateral relations to change from the time of the previous administration wherein the bilateral relations were bad; and this was nurtured and fixed by the President. We had warm relations and we had trade relations.”
He added, “So he is caring for this; at the same time, he is thinking of the welfare of 320,000 overseas workers in China [and] . . . he is also thinking of the welfare of Filipinos fishing in Recto Bank. Those were among the things being balanced by the President.” Panelo said the officials during the joint Cabinet cluster meeting on Monday also opined that there may be a lot of repercussions if the government decides to take action; hence, the need for further investigation into the incident.
Panelo made the remarks a day after the President broke his silence and called the Recto Bank incident which resulted to the sinking of Filipino fishing boat F/B Gem-Vir1 that endangered the lives of 22 fishermen a “little maritime accident.”
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei B. Nograles told reporters that there is no need for the country to invoke the US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) at this point, contrary to what was earlier suggested by Senator Panfilo Lacson.
“MDT can only be used if there is an armed attack on a public vessel, on troops, on an airship. That’s when the MDT takes effect,” Nograles said.
“If it is not a military attack then I don’t think that mechanism is even available,” he added.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez, File