Piñol, not PRRD, invited me: F/B Gem-Ver 1 skipper

FILE: IMMEDIATE REPAIR. Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (left) assures Junel Insigne (wearing sando), the captain of the F/B Gem-Ver 1 of immediate assistance for the repair of the damaged fishing boat in Barangay San Roque, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro on Wednesday (June 19, 2019). The F/B Gem-Ver 1 was hit by a Chinese vessel off Recto Bank last June 9. (PNA photo by Oliver Marquez)

MANILA — The captain of the fishing boat that sank after being hit by a Chinese vessel in Recto Bank on June 9 publicly apologized on Wednesday to President Rodrigo Duterte after admitting that he never received an invitation to a meeting in Malacañang.

“Humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa ating mahal na Presidente. Hindi po pala ako pinatawag niya. Si (Agriculture) Secretary (Emmanuel) Piñol po pala ang nagpatawag sa amin (I’m asking for an apology to our beloved President. He did not invite me. It was Secretary Piñol who invited us),” Junel Insigne, F/B Gem-Ver 1 skipper, said in a press briefing at the San Jose Sangguniang Panlunsod in Occidental Mindoro.

Insigne admitted there was no formal invitation and that he only heard that they were being invited to Malacañang and assumed that they would see the President.

Piñol, during the press briefing, clarified that it was actually Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) national director, Undersecretary Eduardo Gongona, who invited them to Manila so that their needs could be addressed by the BFAR.

The DA chief said Insigne was with the boat owner, Arlinda dela Torre, and the cook, Richard Blaza, on their way to Calapan, Oriental Mindoro on Sunday where they were supposed to take the ferry boat to Manila when he backed out of the trip.

Insigne said he did not feel well and decided to return to San Jose, a decision which was interpreted as a refusal to see the President.

He apologized for his earlier statements that were critical of the President, saying those were out of anger because he and the 21 others with him were abandoned by the crew of the Chinese fishing vessel which hit and sank their fishing boat.

“Now, it is clear. Insigne was never invited to the Palace, but he and the two others were asked to come to the BFAR office last Monday to meet with me,” Piñol said.

Insigne, in an interview, said he had only one appeal to the President — justice for the ordeal.

“Humihingi ako ng tulong sa Presidente na sana managot ang kapitan at mga crew ng Chinese vessel na bumangga sa min. ‘Yun lang po ang hinihiling namin (I am asking the President for help and we want the captain and crew of the Chinese vessel who hit us to be held liable for what they did to us. That is what we are requesting),” he said.