China expressed sorry over boat sinking incident – PH envoy

August 29, 2019

China, through its Foreign Ministry, has apologized over the boat sinking incident in the night of June 9 in Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea, a Philippine envoy said on Thursday.

"Actually, the Chinese government through the Foreign Ministry has expressed their sorry - they're very sorry about the incident through diplomatic channels," Philippine Ambassador to China Jose Santiago Sta. Romana told reporters in Beijing.

It was not clear, however, if the apology was verbal or written.

On August 26, the Guangdong Provincial Fishery Mutual Insurance Association sent a letter to the Philippine Embassy in Beijing a asking for an apology for the June 9 "accidental collision" in behalf of the shipowner. The Chinese ship immediately left the area after the incident, leaving the 22 fishermen helpless. The Filipinos were only rescued by a Vietnamese vessel, which happened to pass by in the area.

Before he mentioned that China, through its Foreign Ministry expressed sorry, asked if there was a need for the Chinese government to make its own apology to the actions of its fishermen, Sta. Romana said, "I think the fact that the Foreign Ministry was deeply involved in these discussions with us, the moral responsibility I think they share."

He also said that as early as late June, the fisheries official of China already expressed "verbal apology and gave us a verbal report which we have transmitted to the authorities."

But he said that time, President Rodrigo Duterte and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. wanted a formal public apology, which was written and not verbal.

And this resulted to the written public apology by the shipowner, he said.

"This apology of course represents the shipowner. But in a sense I think through diplomatic discussions with the Chinese side, we have made it clear that this had a negative impact, had an adverse impact on the bilateral relations particularly on China’s image. And that one way to correct this was through what you’ve seen: the public explanation, the investigation and the apology. So we welcome this development," he said.

Contrary to earlier reports, Sta. Romana said it was settled that what happened was not a ramming incident, but it was "an accident."

As to the abandonment, he said the Chinese fishermen explained that they did not mean to abandon the 22 fishermen on board the ill-fated fishing boat.

"They (Chinese fishermen) 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 that what happened as they were leaving," he said, quoting the Chinese report.

The Guangdong Fishery Mutual Insurance Association has asked the Philippine side to file specific appeal for civil compensation based on the actual loss.

Sta. Romana said there was an earlier request from the Chinese side to send a delegation to visit the fishermen from Occidental Mindoro who were figured in the incident.

"But at that point, the atmosphere was just not too favorable and we thought we had to clear… If they were to go now, it’s --- we could consider it. We haven’t had any further discussions on the matter," he said.

The Chinese shipowner's apology came as Duterte is on a four-day official visit to China upon Xi's invitation. Celerina Monte/DMS