BANGKOK – The Philippine government is seeking a “satisfactory and principled end” to the “ordinary navigation incident” in Recto Bank without compromising the country’s sovereignty.
As the sinking of the Filipino vessel by a Chinese boat remains under investigation, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo maintained the country’s sovereignty is “non-negotiable” and they would seek “accountability and compensation” for the Filipino fishermen abandoned at sea.
“We appeal to the major players and kibitzers of the Reed Bank incident, to hold their horses and let emotions settle down, as we pursue to find a satisfactory and principled end to the issue,” Panelo said.
“While we are friendly to all countries and enemies to none, we remain steadfast in asserting and protecting our sovereignty against any assault and or intrusion from whatever source. Our sovereignty, we repeat, is non-negotiable,” he said.
The government also wants to know the truth behind the allision involving the Chinese and Filipino vessels and resolve the conflict based on international maritime laws, according to Panelo.
“Both countries must ascertain the truth of the Reed Bank incident and proceed to put to rest the conflict, consistent with the principles of justice and the law of the seas,” said Panelo, who is part of President Duterte’s delegation to his visit to Thailand this weekend.
“We maintain our stand that regardless of the nature of the allision, we condemn the uncivilized and inhuman act of abandoning the Filipino fishermen, thereby putting them into the precipice of extinction after their vessel submerged. There must be accountability and compensation,” he added.
China and the Philippines will conduct separate investigations to determine the facts behind the Recto Bank incident, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said yesterday.
“There will be no joint investigation. China and Philippines will conduct their respective investigations,” Locsin said on his official Twitter account after the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday proposed “a joint investigation at an early date” to enable an exchange of initial findings between the two sides.
When asked about Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra’s statement that both sides have indicated willingness to conduct a joint inquiry, Locsin reiterated his view on the proposal.
“DFA will act on my view and no one else’s. I talked to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea; Palace supports me,” he said.
“That’s that. Also, I listen only to the DND and the NSA. This is a matter beyond civilian agencies’ remit and falls well within the DFA’s, DND’s, and NSA’s,” he said referring to the Department of National Defense and the National Security Advisor.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has appealed to the public to be patient as he said the result of the investigation on Recto Bank incident will be out “in a couple of days.”
Lorenzana believes that all the “gray areas” in the incident will be cleared once the Philippine Coast Guard released its findings on the allision that occurred on June 9.
“I ask our countrymen to be patient dahil lalabas naman talaga ang totoo rito eh kapag nakuha na natin lahat ng information so that we can move on from this,” he said. “It is the Philippine Coast Guard that investigates and I think in a couple of days lalabas na ‘yung results,” he added. (Genalyn Kabiling, PNA, and Martin Sadongdong)