Opposition lawmakers blast China’s claim on Recto Bank incident

“The Chinese government’s response to the West Philippine Sea hit-and-run incident, through its embassy here in Manila, is preposterous,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in her statement on Saturday, June 15. (File Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Opposition lawmakers did not buy the claim of the Chinese government that its vessel was besieged by Filipino fishing boats at the Recto (Reed) Bank in the West Philippine Sea.

“The Chinese government’s response to the West Philippine Sea hit-and-run incident, through its embassy here in Manila, is preposterous,” Senator Risa Hontiveros said in her statement on Saturday, June 15.

“It is a flimsy attempt at a cover-up to shield the involved Chinese crew from any accountability and shift the blame and responsibility to our distressed fisherfolk,” she added.

On Friday evening, the Chinese embassy confirmed that a Chinese vessel, identified as Yuemaobinyu 42212, was involved in the incident in the West Philippine Sea, where a Filipino fishing vessel with 22 Filipino fishermen on board was rammed and sank at the Recto Bank last June 9.

However, it denied that the incident was a case of “hit and run,” contradicting to the statement of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that the Chinese vessel left the scene and abandoned the Filipino crewmen.

The embassy claimed that its vessel was “suddenly besieged by 7 or 8 Filipino fishing boats.”

“During evacuation, 42212 failed to shun a Filipino fishing boat, and its steel cable on the lighting grid of larboard bumped into the Filipino pilothouse. The Filipino fishing boat tilted and its stern foundered,” it said.

The embassy added that the Chinese captain even attempted to “rescue” the Filipino fishermen, “but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats.”

But Hontiveros found their claim “ridiculous.”

“It is the Chinese vessels which regularly trespass our territories which have a long record of harassing our fisherfolk in the region. This is well documented and even part of a recent case filed before the International Criminal Court,” she said, continuing, “In fact, Chinese ships have been ramming, firing water cannons at and sinking Vietnamese vessels in the Paracels for several years now.”

If there were indeed seven to eight Filipino fishing boats in the area, then how come those fishermen were rescued by a Vietnamese fishing vessel, the lady senator asked.

For his part, Magdalo party-list Representative Gary Alejano said China just “want it to appear that there were the ones harassed.”

“Do you think our fishermen will have the gall to bully Chinese fishermen in the Spratlys with PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Navy, Coast Guard and its maritime militia around?” Alejano, a former navy officer, asked.

“Will our fishermen have the boldness to make overt offensive actions against Chinese fishermen knowing that in the horizon lies three large reclaimed islands armed with radars and missiles defense system (surface to surface & surface to air) which has combat radius covering almost the South China Sea including whole of Palawan island?” he added.

Senator Francis Pangilinan, meanwhile, said China’s version of the incident was as “fake as their territorial claims.”

The Filipino fishermen have returned to their families on Friday.

The Philippine government has also filed a diplomatic protest against China over the incident which China earlier downplayed, saying it was only an “ordinary maritime accident.”