Almost half say Philippines should request China to sanction crew of boat in Recto Bank incident
Nearly half of Filipinos asked the Philippine government to request China to impose sanctions on crew members of Chinese vessel which rammed fishing vessel Gem-Ver during the Recto Bank incident last June 9.
In a survey Friday by Pulse Asia Research Inc., 36 percent of Filipinos want the government to ask China to sanction the crew of the boat which hit a Filipino fishing vessel in Recto Bank and left fishermen in the water until a Vietnamese vessel rescued them.
This, according to Pulse Asia, is in addition to filing a formal complaint before the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
Pulse Asia said this drew 46 percent of respondents in Metro Manila, 45 percent in the rest of Luzon, and to Classes D and E with 34 percent and 36 percent.
Meanwhile, about 26 percent proposed that China, not just the vessel crew, should pay for damages incurred by Gem-Ver and injuries sustained by the Filipino fishermen.
About 19 percent said members of Chinese vessel should be presented before a Philippine court; and 10 percent said both countries should talk and agree on a set of rules that would apply to similar maritime incidents in the West Philippine Sea.
The survey was conducted from June 24 to 30 using face-to-fave interviews of 1,200 representative adults 18 years old and above. It has a ± 2.8 percent error margin at the 95 percent confidence level. Cristina Eloisa Baclig/DMS
