- PH fishermen said their boat was rammed by ships belonging to China’s coast guard
- They were told to go back to Subic
- DFA still verifying the incident
MANILA, Philippines – In what could be the latest incident in the hotly-contested West Philippine Sea, a group of Filipino fishermen said they were harassed by Chinese coast guard ships which rammed their fishing boat and tried to shoo them away from Panatag Shoal last March 5 and 6.
According to FB Bubhoy’s captain Junmar Pumicpic, he and his men were fishing in the shoal’s vicinity on the morning of March 5 when they were approached by rubber boats belonging to China’s coast guard.
“One of their rubber boats carried three men in uniform. They approached us and told us in English to leave,” he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer. “(They said) ‘this is China Coast Guard. Go back to Subic.’”
Pumicpic said they thought the ordeal was seemingly over when the rubber boats returned to the shoal. A few minutes later, however, one of them returned and began ramming their vessel several times.
“We were all traumatized by what they did to us. Some of us were shaking. We thought they were going to sink our boat,” he said.
While they were shaken by the incident, Pumicpic said his men were able to record a video of the incident and gave a copy to the Philippine Coast Guard in Subic.
“We gave the video to the Philippine Coast Guard detachment in Subic. I hope they will make an official report about it,” he said. “We feared for our lives and we thought of our families. But if they intended to kill us, we were determined to fight back.”
As for the March 6 incident, Pumicpic said Chinese coast guard vessels drove them away again — this time by shining lasers and powerful lights on their boat.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) spokesman Charles Jose said they are still trying to verify the incident.
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