Philippine captain changes tone on China ship ramming incident after closed meeting
The captain of the Gem-Ver fishing boat on June 19 suddenly changed his tone about the Chinese sinking of his boat in the East Sea after a closed meeting with Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Piñol.
Reversing his previous statement, Captain Junel Insigne said he was not sure whether the Chinese ship intentionally rammed and sank the Philippine fishing boat at the Reed Bank on the night of June 9. The Reed Bank is part of Vietnam's Spratly Islands.
22 crew members of a Philippine fishing boat involved in a collision were left at sea and were later rescued by a ship from Vietnam.
"I feel confused because I really don't know if we were intentionally hit or not," Junel Insigne said at a press conference on June 19.
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| Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Piñol with crew members at a press conference. Photo:Rappler. |
The 43-year-old captain's statement came after he and 21 crew members of the Gem-Ver attended a closed-door meeting with Philippine Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol. According toRapplerThe meeting was heavily guarded by armed police.
Mr Insigne said he had been swept up in emotions and that was why he initially believed the Chinese ship had deliberately rammed the Gem-Ver. “I felt really bad that they left us behind,” he said.
On June 18, after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte called the incident that happened on the night of June 9 “just a maritime incident,” Captain Insigne expressed disappointment at the leader’s comments. “I am sad that it seems like the incident of them ramming our ship is being brushed aside,” Insigne told the newspaper.ABS-CBN News(Philippines). He expected the president to take more concrete steps.
Also at the press conference on June 19, Secretary Piñol said that the Filipino fishermen could not determine whether the sinking was intentional or not. He cited a witness named Richard Blaza, who allegedly said that the Chinese vessel may not have seen them.
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| Riot police stand guard at the gate of the Gem-Ver fishing boat owner's house in Barangay San Roque I, San Jose, as Agriculture Secretary Pino speaks to the 22 crew members on June 19. Photo: Rappler. |
A Philippine foreign ministry official said on June 18 that Manila may continue to raise the issue at the upcoming ASEAN summit in Thailand on June 22-23.
