PCG dismisses China warship aid to ‘frightened’ Zambales fisher

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Friday appeared dismissive of the touted assistance of the Chinese Navy towards a “frightened” Filipino fisherfolk off Zambales coast facing West Philippine Sea tension hotspot Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Commodore Jay Tarriela, PCG spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, also disputed several claims of the Chinese embassy in Manila on the encounter, which he said occurred approximately 71 nautical miles west of Silanguin Island.

According to the embassy’s Facebook post on Friday, China’s People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Luyang III-class guided-missile destroyer with bow number 174 — through a rigid hull inflatable boat (RHIB) — delivered “essential” food and water to a fisherfolk on Thursday, Dec. 25.

READ: Chinese Navy tugboat leaves BRP Sierra Madre vicinity, says PH Navy

The embassy further claimed that the fisherfolk — identified by Tarriela as Larry Tumalis — “had been stranded for three days due to engine failure” adding that the PLA-N warship had been “coordinating follow-up support” with PCG.

Tarriela scoffs at the water bottle, biscuit aid

Tarriela scoffed at the assistance cited by the embassy, which he said, at least, is a “notable contrast to the barbaric, illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions” of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea due to Beijing’s sweeping South China Sea claims effectively dismissed by an international court in favor of Manila’s sovereign rights.

“[W]e acknowledge and appreciate the humanitarian gesture of [PLA-N warship] in providing a bottle of water and three packs of biscuits to distressed Filipino fisherman off the coast of Zambales,” he also said in a statement. 

He then disputed the embassy’s claims on coordination, saying the PCG received no prior information from the PLA-N regarding Tumalis’ location and condition.

Tarriela also said that Tumalis’ boat was safely moored to a floating aggregate device — locally known as “payao” — and awaiting pickup by their mother boat FBCA Gavin.

“Claim that he had been adrift for three days is inaccurate,” he said.

Frightened fisher writes ‘HELP ME’

Furthermore, the official said their service boat departed on a fishing trip on Dec. 24 around 3:00 p.m., and Tumalis’ boat was located by the PCG and his mother boat FBCA Gavin the following afternoon, or less than 24 hours later.

“According to the fisherman, he became frightened when the PLA Navy warship 174 launched a RHIB,” Tarriela said. “In response, he used carbon deposits scraped from the tip of his engine’s exhaust pipe to write ‘HELP ME’.”

In another statement, the PCG said Tumalis was reported missing for a few hours.

This prompted PCG to deploy BRP Cape San Agustin at around 10:55 a.m. to conduct search and rescue operations for Tumawis.

After three hours of search, at around 2:15 p.m., the PCG successfully located the fisher.

The crew of Cape San Agustin then turned over Tumawis to FBCA Gavin.

“We hope this incident is not exploited as propaganda by China,” Tarriela said.

Aid comes after an injurious act vs fishers 

This publicized non-hostile encounter of a PLA-N warship with a Filipino fisher came around two weeks after China Coast Guard’s aggression against fisherfolk in Escoda (Sabina) Shoal. 

Three Filipino fisherfolk were injured when CCG forces fired water cannons to drive them away from the Escoda Shoal on Dec. 12, according to PCG.

In response, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun offered a different version of the event. Guo, who did not mention the water cannon incident, framed CCG operations against Filipino fishers as “professional” while accusing them of wielding knives. 

Defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said the knife accusations against fisherfolk are nothing but “blatant lies.” /mr