MANILA – The owner of the Chinese vessel that allegedly sank a Philippine fishing boat and abandoned 22 Filipino fishermen near the disputed Recto Bank finally issued an apology for the incident.
The Philippine Embassy in China on Wednesday send its memorandum to Department of Foreign Affairs secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. containing the apology letter of the Chinese shipowner.
“The shipowner of the Chinese fishing boat involved, through our association, would like to express his sincere apology to the Filipino fishermen,” read except of the English translation of the letter of apology.
“We believe that, although this accident was an unintentional mistake of the Chinese fishermen, the Chinese fishing boat should however take the major responsibility in the accident,” it added.
“The Philippine side is requested to file a specific appeal for civil compensation based on the actual loss,” the apology letter further said.
Last June 9, a Chinese fishing vessel hit a Philippine fishing boat Recto Bank and left it there to sink. The 22 Filipino fishermen were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.
China, through its embassy in Manila, belied claims that the fishermen were abandoned and said the captain of its vessel tried to save them but was “afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats.”
The Reed Bank contains offshore gas reserves that both countries claim ownership of, despite it being located within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone./PN