De Lima slams Duterte for “deafening silence” over Recto Bank incident, Locsin for “defending Chinese”

(Eagle News)–Senator Leila de Lima on Friday, June 14, slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for what she said was his “deafening silence” over the Recto Bank incident, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin.

De Lima issued the statement even after the Palace condemned the actions of the Chinese vessel that abandoned  22 Filipino fishermen on board a Philippine fishing boat that was sinking after the two vessels collided on June 9, and after  Locsin said the Philippines has filed a diplomatic protest in connection with the incident.

Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said China was “seriously probing” the incident, and would impose sanctions on the crew members of the Chinese vessel if they were found to be Chinese.

“Gising na po, Ginoong Duterte. Ipagtanggol mo naman po ang mga Pilipino,” De Lima said.

As for Locsin, De Lima said he “jumped to the defense of the Chinese by contradicting claims of intentionality on the part of the Chinese by Sec. Lorenzana and various other experts on naval and maritime relations.”

“These are not the reactions that we need and deserve from our President and top diplomat,” she said.

“This sends an unfortunate message to the world that we tolerate injustice from China against our own people,” she added.