The Philippine Online Chronicles

The Philippine Navy brought 16 of the 24 Chinese fishing boats abandoned near Spratlys Islands into mainland Palawan Thursday amid China’s call to return the vessels.

The Armed Forces Western Command said the rest of the boats were lost at sea because of bad weather.

Naval Forces West (Navforwest) commanding officer Commodore Joseph Rostum Peña said the abandoned boats were towed to their naval facility in Ulugan Bay, Puerto Princesa after figuring in an October 18 accident between the Philippine Navy and a large fishing vessel.

Peña said their BRP Rizal, while traversing some 25 nautical miles south of Marie Louise Bank of the West Philippine Sea for its routine patrol mission, lost control and rammed through a Chinese fishing fleet which in included a mother ship and 35 motorized dinghies. Right after the accident, the mother ship fled and cut off lines to the smaller boats being towed.

In a statement, Navforwest said, “Despite evasive maneuvers to prevent the collision, PS-74 still accidentally hit the last dinghy. At that moment, the crew of the fishing vessel cut off their towing line, leaving behind 24 dinghies that got entangled with PS-74.”

Peña added that they could not verify if the fleet were fishing in the area.

China: return the ships

Meanwhile, China has been calling for the return of the ships.

"China has presented its stance to the Philippines. We demand that the Philippines return the small Chinese boats unconditionally and as soon as possible, and properly handle related issues," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told Xinhua.

China asserted that it was the propeller of the Navy vessel that tangled and cut the rope connecting the mother ship to the smaller boats.

Jiang said the fishermen are safe and no one was injured.

"It is completely justified for Chinese fishermen to fish in areas where generations of Chinese have fished," she said, adding that Philippine behavior impinged upon the rights of their fishermen.

No apology needed

However, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said, “no apologies were necessary and none was given.” Del Rosario said the fishing fleet “strayed in our waters.”

But Defense spokesperson Zosimo Paredes earlier said, "I think there was already an apology to the Chinese Embassy here in Manila. It's in the form of incident information to the Chinese Embassy here. At the same time, we are saying that the damage is not intentional. The minor incident was unfortunate, that was a result of unforeseen circumstances.”

He added, "The Chinese boat just abandoned the small boats. It appeared it got scared. They were supposed to be checked which is usual since they are within Philippine waters. The mother Chinese fishing boat immediately left, leaving the small boats it was towing.”

Some news agencies reported that the Philippine government refuses to return the boats, citing Del Rosario’s statement that “The disposition of the small boats will be in accordance with a legal process.”

Western Command’s Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban said they are yet to receive a formal request for the return of the boats.