A Filipino tragedy

Two short lines (from the lyrics) of two old standard songs speak of fools. Elvis Presley once sang “Wise men say, only fools rush in”. Tony Bennett, Matt Monro and Frank Sinatra, in separate interpretations of one composition, chroned “fools rush in, where angels fear to tread”. Since definitely I am not an angel and I, according to some acceptable standards, may probably be a fool, I can rush my thoughts on a recent West Philippine Sea happening. If I have somehow become crazy it must be the effect of the confusing reactions made by high Philippine government officials.

One. We have been told that a fishing vessel owned by a Filipino was hit by another boat, flying a Chinese flag. This happened near the Recto Bank within the Exclusive Economic Zone in the vastness of the West Philippine Sea. The reported first reaction of our government came shortly after what took place. It was a diplomatic protest lodged by the Department of Foreign Affairs. I was bewildered by the move.

 A Filipino-owned bottom while inside Philippine waters was hit by a foreign registered vessel is a purely private matter. It did not involve the Philippines and China in their sovereign capacities. The vessels were not assets of the two governments. They were but objects and never subjects of international law, in the strict legal parlance. To draw an analogy, it was, to me, like a big truck that is not registered in the Land Transportation Office (LTO) ramming a small car on a Philippine road. Such accident could be simply a probable criminal prosecution or a good cause of civil action or both where the help of our Foreign Affairs is to identify the owner of boat and the names of its crew.

        Two. China pulled the rug under the DFA. Without commenting on the Philippine diplomatic protest, the Chinese has already said that the sinking of F/B Gem-Ver, the Filipino fishing vessel in the West Philippine Sea was caused by an unfortunate incident. According to a position issued by the Chinese embassy shortly after the so-called “incident”, a large boat, identified as 42212, was involved. It hit Gem-Ver. 42212 allegedly did not move away but it stood by to make sure that all members of the Gem-Ver crew were safe. Only when other Filipino owned fishing vessels arrived at the scene and picked up the crew of Gem-Ver from the sea did 42212 leave the area.  That is the official Chinese line. End of the story especially that our beloved President Rodrigo, for his own reasons, chose to zip his mouth shut. His customized “P ...... ina” language was missing, or so it seemed.

Three. Our Secretary of National Defense, Delfin Lorenzana, in words i cannot now recall, issued a statement that sounded that he was, as a high official, offended although at a later day, he, for reasons that are almost impossible to fathom, seemed to have changed tunes.

 Four. Next came to the public scene Secretary of Energy Alfonso Cusi.  Believe me, I cannot draw any link between such a “maritime incident” as figured by Gem-Ver and the office of Sec Cusi. He probably volunteered to the president to douse water to the incinerating situation. That is what lap dogs usually do. Cusi, in different words, conveyed to us the Chinese line in a manner that I could only label him not just an apologist but a pretender of a publicist of a foreign power.

Five. After days of deathly silence, President Duterte finally opened his mouth. I fell off my chair when he gave an ominous label to the destruction of Gem-Ver and the near-death of its crew as a “maritime incident”. I do not want to say more our president did not feel wronged. It is enough for me to say that now I begin know why China has grown abusive. It is confident that in the criminal hands of its citizenry, it has in our government officials the first line of defenders.

If I have indeed become a fool in completely missing the point, my apology to Capt. Insegne, the personification of a Filipino tragedy.