Senator Risa Hontivers described President Rodrigo Duterte as “feckless and spineless” before China after the latter dismissed the incident involving Chinese and Filipino boats at the Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea as a “maritime incident.”
“Your statement on the Recto Bank hit-&-run incident reveals a lot,” Hontiveros tweeted on Monday, June 17.
“Thank you for confirming who you truly are, Mr. Pres: violent & cruel towards the poor, foul-mouthed & obscene to women & democracy advocates, but feckless & spineless before China. Shame,” she continued.
In his speech at the 121st anniversary celebration of the Philippine Navy in Cavite City on Monday, the Chief Executive said the reported collision between the Chinese and Filipino vessels should not trigger an armed conflict between the two countries, saying the Philippines is “not yet as ready” and will “never be ready” for a nuclear war.
“‘Yang nangyari diyan sa banggaan (The collision that happened there), that is a maritime incident. Huwag kayong maniwala diyan sa mga politiko na bob* na gusto[ng] papunta ‘yung — papuntahin ‘yung Navy (Do not believe those stup*d politicians who want the Navy to go there),” Duterte said.
“You do not send grey ships there. Banggaan lang ng barko ‘yan (It was just a collision of ships). Do not make it worse,” he added.
The President also explained why it took him more than a week before commenting on the incident.
“I do not now issue [a] statement because there is no investigation and there is no result. Then the only thing that we can do is to wait and give the other party the right to be heard. Importante ‘yan eh (It is important),” he said.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila earlier confirmed that the vessel involved in the incident where a Filipino fishing vessel carrying 22 Filipino fishermen was rammed and sank at the Recto Bank on June 9, but claimed that it was their vessel which was “suddenly besieged” by seven or eight Filipino boats.
It added that the Chinese captain even tried to rescue the Pinoy fishermen “but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats.”
But Hontiveros, on Saturday, found their claim “ridiculous,” saying how come the local fishermen were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel if there were really seven to eight Filipino fishing boats in the area.
“Why would our fishermen wait for several hours, exposed to the mercy of the elements, before they were saved from danger?” the senator said.
[READ: Opposition lawmakers blast China’s claim on Recto Bank incident]
Prior to this, Hontiveros earlier urged Duterte to recall the Philippine ambassador and consul in China following the incident, but the Palace brushed aside her call.