Iniakyat na ni Foreign Affairs Sec. Teddyboy Locsin Jr. sa international community ang nakaraang insidente sa pagitan ng mga fishing vessel ng Pilipinas at China sa Recto Bank, West Philippine Sea.
Sa pagdalo ni Locsin sa ika-25 taong anibersaryo ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), nanawagan ito sa mga miyembrong bansa na tumugon din sa kanilang mandatong nilagdaan sa ilalim ng kasunduan.
Iginiit ng kalihim ang nilalaman ng Article 98 ng UNCLOS kung saan nakasaad ang pagbibigay tulong ng mga bansa sa sino mang matatagpuang nasa panganib sa karagatan.
Inaatasan din nito ang mga estado na i-report ang detalye ng mga sasakyang pandagat na maiuulat na nagbanggaan o nalagay sa peligro.
“The 22 Filipino crew were left in the water until a Vietnamese vessel took them on board. We are eternally in debt to our strategic partner, Vietnam, for this act of mercy and decency,” ani Locsin.
“The incident, to put it diplomatically, highlights the moral and possibly legal —though one wouldn’t wager on it — imperative of coming to the rescue of persons in distress at sea. Article 98 of UNCLOS explicitly provides for the “duty to render assistanceâ€. This duty of the master of a ship is three-fold:
- To render assistance to any person found at sea in danger of being lost;
- To proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress, if informed of their need of assistance, in so far as such action may reasonably be expected of him; and
- After a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, its crew and its passengers and, where possible, to inform the other ship of the name of his own ship, its port of registry and the nearest port at which it will call.”
Aminado si Locsin na walang sanction ang nangyaring insidente sa ilalim ng international law kaya dapat daw na bigyang pansin ito ng international community.
“It is the obligation of every member state of the UN and of the IMO to pay, not just lip service to these conventions but to observe them in real life-and-death situations.”
“The rescue of persons in distress is a universally recognized obligation of people and governments; and in the civil law and, maybe even in common law, it is a felony to abandon people in distress; especially when we cause that distress; and more so when it is no bother at all to save them at no risk to oneself. While no sanction is available in international law, it should be a cause of some concern.”
Kamakailan nang tila maliitin ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ang salaysay ng mga mangingisdang sakay ng fishing vessel na binangga umano ng barko ng China. Gayunpaman, kumabig din ang Malacanang sa naturang pahayag ng pangulo.
“What happened in the collision is a maritime incident. Do not believe the dumb politicians who want to send the Philippine Navy. You do not send gray ships there. That is only a collision of ships,†ani Duterte sa kanyang speech noong Lunes.
Kaugnay nito nagpahaging si UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres hinggil sa issue kung saan sinabi nito ang kahalagahan ng seguridad at kapayapaan sa mga karagatan.
“Conflicting demands from industry, fishing, shipping, mining and tourism are creating unsustainable levels of stress on marine and coastal ecosystems. We must act across an array of sectors to address these challenges,” ani Guterres.
