Banggaan lang ng mga barko yan: Duterte breaks silence on Reed Bank incident

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday broke his silence on the incident involving a Chinese ship and Filipino fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea.

Duterte, in his speech during the anniversary of the Philippine Navy, addressed the issue of the incident in Reed Bank last week, where a Chinese vessel rammed into a Filipino fishing boat.





Duterte said the sinking of the Filipino fishing boat is a "maritime incident."

"'Yung nangyaring banggaan, that is a maritime incident. 'Wag kayong maniwala diyan sa mga politiko, bobo, gusto papuntahin 'yung Navy," he said.

He also said the incident is not enough for the government to send Philippine Navy ships to the area.

"You do not send gray ships (Philippine Navy) there. Banggaan lang ng barko 'yan. Do not make it worse because that is a fertile ground for... Alam ninyong mga sundalo, miscommunication 'yan. Patay na. And we are not yet as ready, and we can never be ready in nuclear war, because in nuclear war, kung bitawan lahat 'yan, earth will dry up and we will all be destroyed," he said.

Duterte said he will not be issuing an official statement since the incident has yet to be investigated.

"I do not now issue statement because there is no investigation and there is no result. Then the only thing we can do is to wait and give the other party the right to be heard. Importante 'yan eh," he said.

"Dalawang bangka lang 'yan. Now you go there and create a tension. I said, hindi ako g*go na presidente na papayag. If we have to die, we have to die in the correct way, and to die in dignity," Duterte added.