Palace calls captain’s retorts on Philippine dominion ‘unnecessary’

Malacañang on Monday branded as "unnecessary" the remarks of the Filipino captain of the Greek oil tanker Green Aura who invoked the Philippines' sovereignty over the Scarborough Shoal while a Chinese warship told his crew to veer away.

In a statement, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said protesting the incident would place at risk the employment of over 400,000 Filipino seafarers.

“There was no threat to the lives of our countrymen despite the ship captain’s engaging in retorts about an issue sensitive to our foreign relations concerning our seas. In this particular instance, invoking our state's dominion is unnecessary,” Panelo said.

“Philippine sovereignty has nothing to do with the employment contract between the captain or the crew and the owner of the tanker, notwithstanding the former being Filipinos,” he added.

The Greek oil tanker Green Aura was manned by an all-Filipino crew led by its captain Manolo Ebora.

Ebora over the weekend told GMA News that the oil tanker was sailing near the Scarborough Shoal on September 30 when a Chinese warship told him and his crew to turn away.

Insisting that the area belonged to the Philippines, Ebora insisted on staying the course which he called an innocent passage.

Ebora said he did not see any Philippine ships in the area.

He reported the incident the following day to the Philippine Navy, which he said promised to look into the matter as soon as possible.

“If we are to invoke our sovereignty to protest this incident, which did not result in any of our citizens being physically harmed, we will be putting at risk the employment of more than 400,000 deployed Filipino seafarers and mariners," Panelo said. 

He said doing so would send a message to shipping companies of our country's "inclination to meddle with or interfere into their own maritime affairs for the sole reason that a Filipino is under their employ."

Panelo’s statement comes after maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal criticized his earlier remarks that the incident did not concern the Philippines as no Filipino vessel was involved. 

Under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the shoal is a part of the country’s national territory as it is well within the 200-nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone.

On Twitter, Batongbacal called Panelo’s statements “wrong on several levels” as his silence on the incident is a sign of the Philippines’ acquiescence to China before a third party.

“This is like saying [the Philippines] is not concerned that [China] exercises jurisdiction over Scarborough against any other state," Batongbacal said.

"It's like a person not caring that his house is being managed by someone else who claims to be the owner, and makes other people recognize he is the real owner,” he added.

Batongbacal stressed that the incident should be a concern of the Philippine government as the country relies on foreign-flagged vessels for international trade.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana earlier said the issue must not be sensationalized as the Green Aura was able to reach its destination safely.  —NB, GMA News