The Philippine government would hale to court the captain and crew of the Chinese ship that rammed a Filipino fishing boat near Recto (Reed) Bank if the Chinese government failed to impose sanctions against them, Malacañang said on Monday. “If [China] cannot do that (impose sanctions), then we will sue them in our jurisdiction. O, e ‘di ba, in-endanger nila ang lives (They endangered lives). Pwedeng (We can file a case of) reckless imprudence resulting in serious damage of property and endangering the lives of our countrymen,” Palace spokesman Salvador Panelo said. “There is only one way by which they can justify the abandonment of our fisherfolk, and that is by so doing, their lives would have been endangered,” he added. Panelo, however, expressed confidence that China would penalize the Chinese captain and his crew if its investigation showed that they committed violations.

Valente, C. S. & Dela Cruz, D. N. J. (2019, July 9). Boat-ramming incident: Manila to hale Chinese to court. The Manila Times, p. A8.