Palace appeals for calm over Filipino fishing boat sinking

MANILA: A senior Malacanang Palace official on Monday appealed for calm following the continued silence of President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte over the recent sinking of a Filipino fishing boat by a Chinese vessel at the South China that has been greeted by widespread protests and denunciations.

Salvador Panelo, the presidential spokesman, aired the appeal even as Junel Insigne, the boat captain, who was described as “traumatised by the incident,” backed out of a scheduled meeting with Duterte at the Palace on Monday.

“Let’s just wait. Let the facts set in,” Panelo told reporters in a Palace briefing, saying they were still awaiting for official reports on the sinking from both the Philippine and Chinese investigators.

“When the facts are all in and we are convinced about what really transpired,” Panelo explained, “then we can do something about it. We have to walk cautiously on this.”

Meanwhile, an official of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), confirmed that Insigne had backed out from his scheduled meeting with Duterte scheduled on Monday at Malacanang.

Elizir Sallig, the BFAR regional director, confirmed that Insigne he described as “still traumatized” by the sinking told him he would no longer go to Manila for the meeting with Duterte.

Sallig could not explain Insigne’s sudden decision but earlier on Sunday, the Filipino crew assailed Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi for reportedly telling them during his visit to Oriental Mindoro province in Southern Luzon that the reported ramming and sinking of their fishing boat was “not intentional.”

Radio reports said some of the crewmen who heard the statement denounced Cusi in Filipino that aside from insulting them, he also had the temerity to tell them the sinking was not intentional.

Insigne and his crew were one in saying the Chinese vessel allegedly rammed their boat then anchored at the South China Sea at midnight on June 9 and abandoned them without any atempt to rescue them.