PH offers sympathies to Vietnam over death of fishermen

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano addresses the United Nations General Assembly, Saturday, Sept. 23, 2017, at U.N. headquarters. AP

The Philippines assured Vietnam of a “fair and thorough investigation” into the death of two of its compatriots in an incident in the West Philippine Sea, the Department of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.

“We would like to offer our sympathies over the unfortunate loss of life and give you our assurance that we will conduct a fair and thorough investigation into this matter,” DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano told Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, after informing him of the incident at the United Nations in New York.

Reports received by the DFA said a Philippine Navy patrol en route to Subic, went after six Vietnamese fishing boats within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, 34 nautical miles off Cape Bolinao.

“In the ensuing chase, 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,” the DFA said.

The incident reportedly prompted personnel on board the Navy vessel to fire warning shots. The Navy men found two Vietnamese fishermen dead when they boarded the fishing vessel.

Five others surrendered and were taken into custody.

Cayetano said that the Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Philippine National Police teams have been sent to Pangasinan to look into the incident.

He also assured his counterpart that the Vietnamese fishermen who were taken into custody will be given proper treatment and they can be accessed anytime.

“He said the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila is in touch with officials of the Vietnamese Embassy to update them on developments and facilitate their access to their nationals, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” the DFA said. /cbb