China Coast Guard no help to distressed fishers near Panatag, survivors say
SUBIC, ZAMBALES—Fishermen who survived their boat’s explosion off the disputed Scarborough Shoal, locally called Panatag Shoal, in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) recalled not getting help from the nearby China Coast Guard (CCG), even as they were struggling in the water, with two of them injured.Although a CCG ship was in the area when the boat explosion occurred on Saturday, its crew did not help except to throw life vests at them, even hitting one of the fishers in the process, they said.
“They said that CCG helped in rescuing us, that’s not true. They had previously been really rude to us. It is only the PCG (Philippine Coast Guard) and our fellow fishermen who helped us,” said one of the injured survivors, Rolando Lumapas, 53, in an interview on Monday at his hospital bed in Olongapo City.
One of the unharmed survivors recalled that while eight of them were gasping for their dear lives in the water after their boat exploded, one CCG ship came close enough to throw life vests at them.
“’Yong life vests po parang hinagis nga lang sa amin ’yun. Natamaan nga po si papa (The life vests seemed to have been just thrown at us. It even hit my father),” Mark Asuki, who was in the same fishing trip with his father, Lowigi, told the Inquirer.
According to the fishermen, the vests thrown at them were actually “useless” to them because they were already transferring to PCG’s BRP Sindangan when it was done.
In fact, they said, BRP Sindangan was even “shadowed” by the CCG ship after they boarded the PCG ship.
For Lumapas, the lack of empathy from the CCG was expected as they have had previous run-ins with its personnel who shooed them away every time they would go near Panatag Shoal even just to take shelter from a storm.
‘It happened too fast’
In between groans, Lumapas narrated that he jumped into the water when the boat’s engine exploded while they were fishing near the shoal on Saturday.
“I jumped into the sea because the fire caught my clothes. I was wearing a sweatshirt and if I didn’t jump, it would get worse,” said Lumapas, nursing his injuries.
“Before I jumped, I felt that I was seriously hurt, all the way down to my feet,” Lumapas added.
Another survivor, Freddie Legaspi, 44, who was also getting treated at the same hospital as Lumapas, recalled that they sailed out from this town’s shores on June 24, along with his seven companions, hoping to bring food to the table after a few days of fishing.
Legaspi said they had managed to avoid being caught by the CCG ship patrolling the WPS, but four days after they arrived near Scarborough Shoal, the accident happened.
“It was 8 a.m. on Saturday, a usual morning at sea, two of our colleagues already left and went fishing using our service boats while the rest stayed in FB (fishing banca) Akio I, our motherboat,” Legaspi recalled in an interview with the Inquirer on Monday.
“At that time, I was fixing the engine because it did not want to start. But when I started it again, it suddenly exploded. It happened too fast,” said Legaspi.
Legaspi said that after Lumapas jumped into the water, their boat began to sink, prompting him to send a radio message asking for help.
Call for rescue
“We were rescued by some fishermen onboard FB JJ3, who were also from [Subic] town, because they were the closest vessel to our location,” said Legaspi.
Legaspi said it was FB JJ3 that brought them to BRP Sindangan, which was patrolling in the area at that time.
PCG nurses aboard BRP Sindangan assessed their condition and provided them first aid at the vessel, he added.
The eight fishermen arrived at Riviera Pier in Subic Bay Freeport onboard BRP Sindangan at 4:20 a.m. on Monday.
Their boat that was almost half-submerged after the explosion was initially towed by BRP Sindangan but another fishing vessel took over midway and towed the damaged fishing boat to Barangay Calapandayan in Subic town. The PCG vessel then proceeded to Riviera Pier with the survivors.
Lumapas and Legaspi were taken to the hospital while their six unharmed companions had since returned to their respective families in Subic town.
The boat owner, Joel Banila, also a fisherman, had appealed for financial assistance from the government, especially for the victims.
For Lumapas, the ordeal would not stop him from returning to WPS because fishing, he said, is his only means of livelihood.
“I have no other choice,” he said.
Legaspi, however, said he wasn’t sure if he would want to go back to Panatag. At this point, he added, he might want to rest for awhile.
