THE sinking of a Filipino fishing vessel and abandonment of its crew by a Chinese trawler near Recto Bank last June 9 was "not an attack" on Philippine sovereignty, President Rodrigo Duterte said on Friday, June 21.
"Remember na yung sa (that the) Recto (Reed) Bank, it was not a matter of sovereignty. Twelve miles lang tayo (We're just 12 miles near that), that is part of our territory as Republic. Beyond that, ang binigay sa atin (what we were given) is the exclusive economic zone," Duterte said in a speech in Davao City.
"It is not an attack on our sovereignty. Malayo iyan (It's far from us). Sovereignty is [when you talk about] the Republic [of the Philippines]. Pag inatake mo iyan (If it is under attack), there's going to be a war," he added.
Recto Bank is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
The President clarified that he is not afraid to launch war against China, but stressed that the nation is not ready to go to war.
"Hindi ako takot sa China. Takot ako na baka walang kalaban. Walang kalaban-laban tayo. At baka tayo ang maubos (I am not afraid of China. I am afraid of our possible defeat. Perhaps, many of our troops will die, if we launch a war against China)," Duterte said.
"They keep on insisting, kagaya nang walang alam sabi na (we will go to ganon ganon ganon puntahan natin ng warship, kaya mo kaya? Kaya mo ang missile ng China (They keep on insisting, like those who are clueless but keep on saying that we will go to war and wend warship, can you do that? Can you survive the missile attack of China)?" he added.
A day earlier, "Duterte Duwag" was among the trending topics on Twitter Philippines.
On June 9, Chinese boat Yuemaobinyu 42212 rammed, sank, and abandoned the Filipino fishing vessel F/B Gemver 1, which was anchored near Recto Bank.
The incident prompted Senator Panfilo Lacson to urge the Duterte administration to invoke the 67-year-old Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States (US) to avert further hostilities in the disputed sea.
Duterte, however, said the Philippines could only invoke its defense pact with the US, if Manila engages in a "bloody confrontation" with Beijing.
"Well, America has the right to interfere if it becomes a bloody confrontation. And one thing, if there is an invocation of the RP-US, it should be concurred in by Congress of America. They will go to war, only if the President says so and Congress will give its concurrence," he said. (SunStar Philippines)