Boat captain saddened by Duterte's remark on collision: 'Hihintayin pa bang may mamatay sa amin?'

The captain of the Philippine fishing boat that was rammed by a Chinese vessel in Recto Bank said Tuesday he was saddened by President Rodrigo Duterte's remark that seemed to downplay the incident.

"Nalulungkot po ako sa sinabi ni mahal na presidente dahil po parang balewala po yung pagbangga sa amin, dahil maliit lang na ano yun, na walang namatay sa amin," Jonel Insigne said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

Insigne: Nalulungkot ako sa sinabi ng mahal na Presidente. Parang balewala 'yung pagbangga sa amin.

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) June 18, 2019

"Hihintayin pa po bang may mamatay po sa amin?"

After the collision, Insigne and 21 other crew members of F/B GEM-VIR 1 were left behind by the Chinese vessel.

Insigne said three hours passed before they were rescued by a Vietnamese vessel.

"Paglubog po namin, yung iba nagtakbuhan, yung iba nalaglag sa tubig, yung iba nakakapit sa bangka," he said. "Yung Vietnam ang tumulong sa amin."

In a speech Monday night, or more than a week after the June 9 incident, Duterte described the collision as a "little maritime accident" and ordered the Philippine Navy  to "stay out of trouble."

Despite Duterte's statement, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said the administration is not belittling the incident, which has been the subject of a diplomatic protest filed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.

Malacañang also denied that it was downplaying the incident.

"Hindi naman nabale-wala, gaya na nga nang paulit-ulit na nating sinasabi. Unang-una, kung nabale-wala iyon, ‘di sana hindi na sila tinutulungan. Tinutulungan na nga sila eh, ‘di ba?" presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said at a news conference.

Panelo cited the visit of two Cabinet members who rendered assistance to the affected Mindoro fishermen, the filing of diplomatic protest, and the condemnation of the act of abandoning the Filipino crew at sea.

"Marami tayong ginawa rin," he said.

Besieged?

China, through its embassy in the Philippines, admitted that it was a Chinese vessel that hit a Philippine boat but said it had to leave the area after the collision when seven or eight Filipino fishing boats "besieged" it.

"The Chinese captain tried to rescue the Filipino fishermen, but was afraid of being besieged by other Filipino fishing boats," the embassy said in a statement on Friday.

Insigne denied this. "Hindi po totoo yun kasi wala kaming kasama. Malalayo po yung kasama namin kaya hindi totoo yung sinabi nila na kinuyog sila," he said in the radio interview. 

Meeting with Duterte

Insigne, who was in Occidental Mindoro, was supposed to meet with Duterte in Metro Manila on Monday, but backed out when he realized he was still too traumatized and weak to travel.

"Sinabihan ako ng may-ari ng bangka na pumunta ng Maynila dahil may ano kay Presidente, pero nung bumiyahe ako hindi ko kinaya," he said.

Insigne, who said he has been fishing since he was 12 years old, insisted that it was a Chinese fishing boat that rammed them, contrary to several claims that it was a Chinese militia boat.

"Nung nagsindi po ng ilaw, nakita namin yung klase ng barko nila. Ganon yung nakikita namin kada buwan, nakikita namin yung pamalakaya nila, yung korte ng lantsa nila. Chinese fishing po," he said. — with Virgil Lopez/KBK/BM, GMA News