President Duterte said he does not mean to belittle the plight of the 22 fishermen who were abandoned at sea by a Chinese vessel when he referred to the Recto Bank incident as a “little” maritime incident.
In an interview with reporters in Mandaluyong City, Duterte apologized to the fishermen if they feel that the government is not fighting for them.
“I’m sorry but that’s how it is. It is a maritime incident, ‘little’ in the sense that there is no confrontation. There was no bloody violence,” he said Monday evening.
“It’s a maritime incident. ‘Little,’ in the sense that it did not result to any confrontation, this is not to belittle anything,” he added.
“There was damage but luckily nobody died, but maliit itong bagay na ito for anybody to bring in the gray ships, the gray ships are the warships,” he continued.
Duterte then reiterated that the incident should not prompt the deployment of the Philippine Navy to the West Philippine Sea since it may ignite the tension in the area.
“That is not a reason to go to any military exercise there. ‘Pag ginawa mo ‘yan, giyera ‘yan. So I am sorry if ‘yun ang feeling nila,” he added.
“Alam naman nila na that area is claimed by both. Para sa (For) China it happened within their jurisdiction, sa atin within our jurisdiction because we have two conflicting claims of ownership,” he continued. (Argyll Geducos)
