PH apologizes, vows to pay kin of slain Viets

The Philippines on Thursday apologized and promised to compensate the families of two Vietnamese fishermen who were killed in an antipoaching operation by the country’s navy at sea.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana made the apology to Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich as they discussed ways to boost defense relations and naval cooperation during a meeting at Camp Aguinaldo.

Lorenzana also relayed President Duterte’s assurance that the families of the Vietnamese fishermen would be compensated properly. Officials did not mention the amount of compensation.

Precautionary measures

Lich expressed appreciation for the gesture and proposed the setting up of a mechanism for navies of both countries to avoid a repeat of the incident.

The two Vietnamese fishermen were found dead with gunshot wounds and five others were arrested after the Philippine navy chased and caught up with suspected poachers in the South China Sea last month.

Foreign fishermen have often been caught trespassing in Philippine waters. Last year Mr. Duterte ordered the release of 17 Vietnamese fishermen caught in his nation’s waters.

In 2013 the Philippines apologized to Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coastguards who said his vessel had illegally sailed into local waters.

Defense cooperation

The officials also discussed the possibility of increasing exchanges of senior and junior officers, information and intelligence exchange, joint training, and addressing nontraditional security challenges such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response, piracy, illegal drugs, and terrorism.

“Our defense cooperation with Vietnam has been very positive and we intend to build on those successes,” Lorenzana said, adding that the Philippines may consider tapping into Vietnam’s expertise in the defense industry.

“We have a meeting of minds to move forward and this will be beneficial to both countries,” he added. —WITH A REPORT FROM AFP