Wife of Gem-Vir 1 boat owner laments delayed compensation from China

Almost two years since a Chinese boat sank Philippine boat Gem-Vir 1 at Recto Bank, the Philippine fishing boat owner's wife decried the delayed settlement for the fishermen.

On the 9th of June 2019, authorities reported that a Chinese vessel hit and sank the Filipino ship waters off Recto Bank, which is within the Philippines' territorial waters. After a Chinese boat left the area, the crew members of a Vietnamese ship that happened to be in the area rescued the 22 Filipino crew members.

In JP Soriano's report on "State of the Nation" on Wednesday, the fishermen has yet to receive compensation for the damages incurred during the incident.

With this, the Filipino crew was forced to use their own money to pay for the P2 million worth of repairs on the damaged fishing boat.

"Kailangan nila sa ngayon 'yung settlement ng mga tao para makatulong dahil sa tagal na naghintay na ito. Magdadalawang taon na. (They need the settlement right now so that it would help them. It is long overdue, it has been almost two years)," said Fe Dela Torre, wife of Felix Dela Torre, who owns the Gem-Vir 1 fishing boat.

The Department of Justice's panel is expected to meet up with its Chinese counterpart next month to discuss the compensation for the Filipino crew members.

Meanwhile, an official from the Department of Affairs said the Chinese vessel owner has vowed to pay the compensation for the Filipino fishermen. However, it is not certain whether the compensation will be worth P10 million or P12 million.

During a sixth meeting of the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea, the settlement of the Gem-Vir incident was also raised.

The owner of the Chinese trawler has since apologized for the "unintentional mistake" of his crew. -- Consuelo Marquez/BAP, GMA News