Duterte admin not belittling Recto Bank incident —Nograles

The Philippine government is not belittling the incident in Recto Bank (Reed Bank) where a Philippine fishing boat was reportedly rammed by a Chinese vessel, according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles on Tuesday.

Interviewed on GMA News' Unang Balita, Nograles explained that when the said incident was deemed as a "little maritime incident," it means that it cannot be claimed yet that the matter was "state-sanctioned."

"Ang konteksto po nitong mga statement na ito ay 'di naman po natin agad-agad na masabi na ito ay state-sanctioned. 'Yun po ang kaibahan na sinasabi na maritime incident. Hindi po natin sinasabi na minamaliit natin ang insidenteng ito pero baka naman po ay ito po ay gawa ng pagbabangga ng dalawang vehicles," Nograles said.

"Nagkakataon lamang na 'yung isa ay Filipino vessel at ['yung isa ay] Chinese vessel. Huwag naman po nating agad sabihin na state-sanctioned po ito ng bansang Tsina. Hindi po ito insidente ng Philippine government versus Chinese government," he added.

Based on the initial findings of the investigation, the incident was an allision as the Philippine vessel was anchored when it was supposedly hit by the Chinese vessel, Nograles said.

"Base sa initial findings ng iba't-ibang ahensya ng gobyerno na nag-conduct ng kanilang initial investigation, mukha nga pong allision ito. Ang kaibahan po ng allision sa collision, 'yung allision po, 'yun po 'yung nakaangkla," Nograles said.

"Gaya ng nangyari dito, nakaangkla 'yung bangka. Binangga po siya habang nakaangkla po siya, non-moving o stationary 'yung object," he added.

On the 121st celebration of the country's Independence Day, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana disclosed that F/B GEM-VIR 1 was allegedly rammed by a Chinese vessel on June 9 in Recto Bank.

It was also reported that the Filipino crewmen were abandoned by the Chinese crew of the said vessel.

In a statement released by the Chinese Embassy, China denied that there was a hit-and-run incident between Philippine and Chinese boats. It also claimed that some Filipino boats besieged the Chinese vessel.

More than a week after the incident, Duterte finally spoke and deemed the case as a "little maritime accident," noting that he will wait for the results of the probe as he does not want the incident to result in a conflict between the Philippines and China.

The Chief Executive even called on the Philippine Navy to "stay out of trouble." It was, however, Navy ship BRP Alcaraz which helped in the rescue of the 22 Filipino crewmen in the open sea.

The affected fishermen had been waiting for the President to issue a statement about the case as well as an action from the government to hold accountable those Chinese who had supposedly left them at sea. —Anna Felicia Bajo/KG, GMA News