(Eagle News) — The Philippines on Monday assured Vietnam it would conduct a “fair and thorough” investigation into the deaths of two Vietnamese fishermen on Saturday, September 23, 2017.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano gave the assurance to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh during an informal meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers at the United Nations headquarters in New York, a Department of Foreign Affairs statement said.
“We would like to offer our sympathies over the unfortunate loss of life..,” Cayetano said.
He said those in Philippine custody–five Vietnamese fishermen who surrendered and reportedly face poaching charges–“will be accorded proper treatment and “can be accessed anytime” by Vietnamese embassy representatives.
The Philippine Navy said six Vietnamese boats were, on Saturday, seen fishing 34 nautical miles off Cape Bolinao in Pangasinan, which was well within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The DFA said personnel on board a Philippine Navy patrol boat, which was then en route to Subic, were forced to fire warning shots after one of the Vietnamese boats “initiated very dangerous maneuvers that resulted in it slamming into the left front and left center of the Philippine patrol vessel.”
Lieutenant Jose Covarrubias, spokesperson of the Naval Forces Northern Luzon, said that the lifeless bodies of the two Vietnamese were found when the Navy personnel boarded the vessel.
Foreign fishermen have often been caught trespassing in Philippine seas.
Last year President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the release of 17 Vietnamese fishermen caught in the country’s waters.
In 2013 the Philippines apologized to Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coastguards who said his vessel had illegally sailed into local waters.
That incident triggered a diplomatic spat, with Taiwan suspending the hiring of Philippine workers and recalling its envoy to Manila in protest. (Agence France Presse)