Sato: Make Marina, Coast Guard report public

A solon of Mindoro is demanding that the report on the Chinese boat ramming incident be made public.

“Where is it,” asked Mindoro Rep. Josephine Sato, following reports that the Marina and the Coast Guard have already wrapped up their investigation on the Recto Bank incident.

This was confirmed by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade in an interview during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Bangkok, Thailand. He said the reports have been submitted to Malacañang on Thursday.

“Isang linggo nang na-submit ang report. Sa interes at kapakanan ng Pilipinas at mga mamamayan nito, kailangang makita na ng sambayanan ang report na ito, lalo na ang mga natuklasan at mungkahi ng Marina at Coast Guard,” said Congresswoman Sato.

In the week following the submission of the report, President Duterte expressed willingness for a joint Philippines-China investigation regarding the Recto Bank incident. This was vehemently opposed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Locsin Jr.

The President also said that China can fish within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) yesterday, June 26 — which Sen. Kiko Pangilinan, President of the Liberal Party said is against the Constitution.

“Ang Recto Bank ay bahagi ng Exclusive Economic Zone ng Pilipinas. Atin ito. Labag sa ating Saligang Batas na payagang mangisda rito ang mga taga China o sinumang dayuhan,” the LP President said.

The Liberal Party, which has Sato as its Treasurer, stands firmly against foreign intervention.

“The priority should always be the Filipinos, our fishermen who were the victims in this incident. What really happened? We need to know. We call for the release the report now.  Furthermore, we call for the active patrolling and protection of our territory especially in the EEZ, so as to prevent any similar incident from happening again,” said Sato.