Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel F. Piñol on Wednesday said the 22 fishermen of the sunken boat F/B Gem-Vir 1 are now “uncertain” whether their boat was intentionally sunk by the Chinese vessel it encountered off Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea on June 9. Mr. Piñol was in Mindoro on Wednesday to meet with the 22 fishermen with an offer of government assistance. Jonel Insigne, the captain of the Filipino boat, said in an interview with News5 last week: “Sinadya ‘yon. Kasi kung hindi…dapat tutulungan kami (It was done purposely. Because if it was not intentional, they should have rescued us).” Asked on Wednesday if he was still standing by his statement, Mr. Insigne told reporters in a televised news conference: “‘Yun lang talagang sinadya nila yung pag-iwan po sa amin (The only thing that was done on purpose was when they abandoned us).”

Balinbin, A. L., Galang, V. M. P., Ferreras, V. A. C., & Villegas, V. M. M. (2019, June 20). Piñol: Fishermen ‘not certain’ about boat sinking. BusinessWorld, p. S1/10.