(Eagle News) — Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo on Friday, June 21, hit Senator Panfilo Lacson’s comment he was acting like the “defense counsel” of China when he doubted the testimony of some of the fishermen on board the Filipino fishing boat that figured in the allision with a Chinese vessel.
“The perception that my pointing out of certain circumstances surrounding the Reed Bank incident previously unknown to us, creates the impression that I’m acting as China’s counsel, is sheer non sequitur (it does not follow in Latin) as well as a shallow analysis of my examination of the incident,” Panelo said in a statement.
According to Panelo, “as a lawyer I have been trained to dissect a situation, to arrive at an intelligent and rational study of the whys and wherefores of a subject of an inquiry.”
He said “the Reed Bank incident is being dressed with misplaced emotionalism and pretended nationalism by those who are bent on politicizing an otherwise ordinary navigation incident into an international fracas.”
“They hope to succeed in getting the approbation of the nation on a misguided theory that the administration is pursuing a foreign policy of subservience to China, a belief that is both wrong and unacceptable,” he said.
In any case, regardless of whether or not the hitting by the Chinese vessel was intentional, the Philippines condemned the “uncivilized and inhuman” act of abandoning the Filipino fishermen, an act he said should be sanctioned.
Panelo said the Philippines and China must determine the truth and “proceed to put to rest the conflict, consistent with the principles of justice and the law of the seas.”
“In the meanwhile, pending the finality of the results of the investigation, whether done independently or jointly, our present focus is to help our Filipino fishermen in their present predicament. All aid to put them back in harness and to restore them from their displacement are being given them,” he said.
Lacson had said Panelo appeared to be entering his appearance as defense counsel for China, after he said the Filipino crew’s conflicting accounts on the sinking of their boat in Recto Bank would cast doubt on them.
Earlier, Lacson described President Rodrigo Duterte’s statement that the allision was a “little maritime incident” as “heartbreaking,” saying the incident could be used to balance powers in the South China Sea.
He said the Mutual Defense Treaty signed between the Philippines and the United States could be invoked.
Panelo slammed Lacson’s statement as “reckless” and “premature,” noting that a probe into the allision was still ongoing.
