MANILA: The Philippines is investigating a maritime incident to find out what killed three Filipino fishermen in a ramming incident that sank their boat in the South China Sea, its president said on Wednesday.
\n\u201cWe assure the victims, their families, and everyone that we will exert every effort to hold accountable those who are responsible for this unfortunate maritime incident,\u201d Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on the X social media platform.
\nThree Filipino fishermen died after their fishing boat was rammed by an unidentified foreign commercial vessel while it was moored in the South China Sea, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Wednesday.
\nThe incident occurred on Monday while the boat was moored 15 nautical kilometers northwest of the disputed Scarborough Shoal, it said in a statement. Eleven crew members survived when the boat sank.
\n\u201cThe incident is still under investigation to ascertain the details and circumstances surrounding the collision between the fishing boat and a still unidentified commercial vessel,\u201d Marcos said.
\n\u201cLet us allow the PCG to do its job and investigate, and let us refrain from engaging in speculation in the meantime,\u201d he added, referring to the coast guard.
\nTensions around those waters have recently flared up after the Philippines said it removed a 300-meter ball-buoy barrier installed by China\u2019s coast guard near the Scarborough Shoal, a prime fishing spot and one of Asia\u2019s most contested maritime features.
\nThe strategic shoal, named after a British cargo vessel that ran aground there in the 18th century, is in the Philippines\u2019 exclusive economic zone but was seized in 2012 by China, which has maintained a constant presence of coast guard ships and fishing trawlers there ever since.
\nChina has rejected the Philippines\u2019 version of events over the barrier, while the United States has weighed in with support behind Manila and vowed to honor its treaty commitments to defend its treaty ally if attacked.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MANILA: The Philippines is investigating a maritime incident to find out what killed three Filipino fishermen in a ramming incident that sank their boat in the South China Sea, its president said on Wednesday. \u201cWe assure the victims, their families, and everyone that we will exert every effort to hold accountable those who are responsible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-359833","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n