EDITORIAL - A test of friendship

Offhand, the incident has been described by a military officer as an accident. This, however, has yet to be established as the Philippine Coast Guard begins investigating the sinking of the Philippine fishing boat Gimver 1 last Sunday off Palawan.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the boat was anchored in Recto or Reed Bank when it was hit by a Chinese fishing vessel. As the Gimver 1 began sinking and the Filipino crew jumped overboard, the Chinese fled, Lorenzana said. Fortunately for the Filipinos, a Vietnamese fishing boat passed by and rescued them.

Malacañang said President Duterte was furious when informed of what Lorenzana described as a “collision,” although the Chief Executive gave no direct comment on the incident yesterday. But his spokesman Salvador Panelo said abandoning the Filipino fishermen in the sea was “outrageous… barbaric… uncivilized.” And if it is established that the Philippine boat was deliberately rammed, Panelo said it would constitute “an act of aggression” that could warrant cutting diplomatic ties with China.

At the very least, leaving fishermen who have lost their boat in the high seas is not the action of anyone considered as a friend. The Filipinos have every right to fish in Recto Bank. It is one of the three areas in the Spratlys over which the Philippines has been awarded sovereign rights, according to the 2016 ruling of the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The two others are Panganiban or Mischief Reef and Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal.

President Duterte has gone out of his way to improve Philippine ties with Beijing following the arbitral ruling, which also invalidated China’s entire nine-dash-line claim in the South China Sea. While economic ties have strengthened and bilateral goodwill has certainly received a boost, there has been little improvement in the state of affairs in disputed waters, where Beijing has deployed its maritime militia.

The Philippines and China have been friends and trading partners for centuries. The incident in Recto Bank will test that friendship.