DEFENSE Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana on Wednesday admitted the country’s military lacked assets in fully patrolling Recto Bank, the scene of an incident involving maritime vessels on June 9.
The responsibility of patrolling Recto Bank, which also falls within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), was also with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana added the Department of National Defense (DND) earlier used the word “collision” in describing the incident because the DND has yet to ascertain whether the boat bearing 22 Filipino fishermen was, indeed, deliberately struck by the Chinese vessel.
While the defense chief said he assails the Chinese for leaving the Filipinos at sea after their vessel sank, he did not pass judgement on whether the incident should be called as ramming. He hinted, however, it may have been an accident; toeing the line of President Duterte who called it a “little maritime accident.”
In his earlier statement, Lorenzana said the Filipino fishing boat was on anchor at the time of the incident, a fact that had been confirmed by the fishermen. Except for the captain and the cook who was preparing for food, nearly all of them were already asleep when their boat was struck.
“The West Philippine Sea is too big for you to hit a small boat, maybe its chance is one is to 1 million. And you know, it is dark, our boat is down. It has its lights on—it has three lights: one in the front, one in the middle and the other one, at the back. I don’t know why it was struck,” Lorenzana said at a news briefing in Manila on Wednesday.
Still, Lorenzana says he denounces the Chinese who left the Filipinos to the mercy of the elements. The Filipino fishermen couldn’t have been rescued if not for the Vietnamese fishing vessel that immediately came for help.
The rescued fishermen believed they were rammed by the Chinese fishing boat as they recounted what happened when they reached Mindoro. Their narration had been confirmed by the captain of the Vietnamese ship in an article in Vietnamese newspaper Saigon Times.
“I think my denouncement stays. I denounce the ship captain for abandoning our [fishermen]. That’s the only thing I denounce,” Lorenzana said. “If you read my press release, ‘collision’ was what was stated there. I did not say [the Filipino boat] was rammed or struck, intentional or not.”
Lorenzana said the Philippine Coast Guard is undertaking the official investigation into the incident. He said other agencies, including the military, have already undertaken their respective investigation.