Filipino boat captain in Recto Bank incident to skip meeting with Duterte

There will be no Monday meeting between President Rodrigo Duterte and Jonel Insigne, the captain of the fishing boat that was reportedly rammed by a Chinese vessel in Reed Bank last week.

Citing Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) Regional Director Elizer Salilig, Allan Gatus' reported on Dobol B sa News TV on Monday that Insigne was still too "traumatized" by the Reed Bank incident to travel to Metro Manila.

JUST IN: Kapitan ng F/B Gem-Ver 1, hindi tumuloy sa nakatakda sanang pulong kay Pangulong Duterte ngayong araw dahil sa nararanasan pa ring 'trauma,' ayon sa BFAR. | via @allangatus pic.twitter.com/TSov0wxv2p

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) June 16, 2019

Insigne was supposed to travel to Metro Manila from Occidental Mindoro on Sunday to meet with Duterte.

The report said one of the 22 crew members of F/B Gem-Ver 1 is currently in Metro Manila and just waiting for word from Malacañang regarding a meeting with the President.

A separate report by Marisol Abdurahman on Unang Balita said the boat's cook traveled to Metro Manila on Sunday for the possible meeting.

The cook, who was not identified, was reportedly the only one awake when a Chinese vessel rammed F/B Gem-Ver 1 late night on June 9 and left. The crew members of the Filipino boat were later rescued by a Vietnamese fishing boat.

Earlier reports said Insigne was supposed to discuss with Duterte the incident and request for three things —to provide assistance to repair the rammed boat, to ban Chinese fishermen from Recto Bank, and to hold the Chinese crew liable for ramming them.

On Monday morning, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro Mayor Romulo Festin met the fishermen to discuss the assistance being given by other groups and local government units to them.

On June 10, the Maritime Situational Awareness Center - West (MSAC - West) obtained an information from the boat captain of FB 076 that an alleged Chinese fishing vessel collided with Filipino boat F/B GIMVER 1.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana bared the incident to the public on June 12, the celebration of the country's 121st Independence Day. The incident prompted Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. to lodge a diplomatic protest against China.

A week after the incident, the 22 crewmen are still waiting for the action of the government and the statement of the President about the issue. They are dismayed with the statement of Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi that the incident was unintentional.

Duterte has yet to speak regarding issue, but presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo defended the President, saying Duterte had already done so through his "alter egos" in the government.

In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy of the Philippines, China claimed that Philippines boats besieged the Chinese vessel. It also denied that there was a hit-and-run incident. —Anna Felicica Bajo/KBK, GMA News