DFA says Chinese vessel’s abandonment of Pinoy crew ‘condemnable’

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Wednesday said that he found the abandonment of the Filipino fishermen whose boat sank after being hit by a Chinese fishing vessel in Recto Bank "contemptible and condemnable."

"I take my cue from Defense Sec Lorenzana. What is contemptible and condemnable is the abandonment of the crew to the elements," Locsin said on Twitter.

"Vietnam's rescue will be the basis of enhanced Vietnam-PH military cooperation," he added.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Wednesday bared that a Chinese fishing vessel hit a Filipino boat carrying 22 crew members in waters off the Reed Bank also known as Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea on Sunday night.

"The collision sank the Filipino vessel," Lorenzana said.

The Defense chief denounced the Chinese vessel's response of leaving the scene immediately after the incident, without assisting the Filipino crew at sea.

Meanwhile, a Vietnamese fishing vessel which happened to be at the area came to the rescue of the Filipinos.

The Philippine Coast Guard, on the other hand, said that it is still verifying whether the foreign vessel involved in the incident was indeed that of China.

Further, Locsin said that it would be more accurate to call the incident an "allision" in which one of the two vessels involved was stationary. —Dona Magsino/NB, GMA News