Injured Navy crew recount water cannon ordeal

VIDEO GRAB FROM PCG

PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan — Three injured and hospitalized Navy personnel recalled their harrowing experience during the water cannon assault of the China Coast Guard (CCG), which they deemed to be the worst incident they encountered so far.

The injured Navy personnel of the charted boat Unaizah Mae 4, were visited by Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. at Camp Ricarte Station Hospital.

Reporters were allowed to talk to the troops, who earlier conferred honors, but their names were not provided.

Last March 23,  the Unaizah Mae 4 was hit by a CCG water cannon, preventing it from approaching the BRP Sierra Madre.

This is the second voyage of the AFP-chartered boat, the first of which was on March 5, which was both met with water cannon assault. 

Brawner said the pressure of the water cannon was stronger compared to the previous incidents, an observation shared by three injured personnel. 

“What happened was, we ran for cover, we separated because the [water cannons] were hitting us here (to the left) and here (to the right),” the first injured Navy personnel, who sustained head injuries, said in Filipino, using his hands to demonstrate the trajectory of the water cannon.

He also said that this is the worst incident they encountered so far.

Two of the personnel sustained injuries to the head, one of whom was directly hit with the water cannon, the pressure of which almost threw him overboard.

“I was thrown against the wall,” said the second injured Navy personnel who was hit by the water cannon twice.

His injury resulted in five stitches to the head.

A third Navy personnel also suffered an eye injury.

A contributed video shot inside the Unaizah Mae 4 obtained by the media on Tuesday shows the extent of the destruction caused by the water cannon, which shattered the boat’s windshield and damaged almost half of the vessel’s roof

At one point, one of the personnel inside could be heard saying: “Tama na, Lord (Please stop it, Lord).”

Nevertheless, the personnel said they will continue to fulfill their mandate.

“We will carry on. It’s part of our job, we should not be scared,” said the first injured personnel, with two personnel nodding in agreement.