PH seeks ‘objective arbiter’ on Recto Bank incident
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 17 Jun 2019 09:05:40 +0000
The government may seek an “objective arbiter” to determine the truth about the Recto Bank maritime incident in case of conflicting results of the investigations by Manila and Beijing.
But for now, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said President Duterte prefers to wait for the “facts” of the reported ramming of a Filipino vessel by a Chinese boat before taking the next course of action.
Until the inquiries conducted separately by the two countries are finished, Panelo said it would be premature to speculate on the incident.
“We’ll wait for the facts to come in…We want first the final findings of both sides. Tingnan natin. For all you know, pareho ang sasabihin nila,” he said. “Kung magkaiba, eh di pag-uusapan natin bakit magkaiba, bakit sinong mas tama. Siguro we need to resolve through an objective arbiter,” he added.
China recently rejected allegations that a Chinese vessel abandoned the 22 fishermen after it hit their boat in the South China Sea. The Chinese crew allegedly tried to rescue the fishermen but left after supposedly being besieged by seven or eight Filipino fishing boats, according to the Embassy of China in Manila.
Malacañang denounced the actions of the Chinese vessel that rammed into the Filipino boat near Recto Bank and abandoned the distressed fishermen at sea. It asked China to probe the incident and impose sanctions on the erring Chinese crew.
After the Chinese crew gave a different version of the incident, Panelo made clear that the government was “not doubting” the Filipino fishermen’s claim they were hit and abandoned by the Chinese vessel but would want to know the facts given such contrary claim.
He explained that they were just being “responsible” and “cautious” pending the results of the probe. “Let the facts set in and the President will respond to the same,” he said.
Panelo noted that the Department of National Defense was taking the lead in the investigation of the maritime incident. The two nations could also exchange the results of their inquiries to find out the truth, according to Panelo. (Genalyn Kabiling)