Foreign commercial vessel rams Pinoy fishing boat, 3 fishermen die

Three Filipino fishermen died when the fishing boat they were maneuvering was rammed by a foreign commercial vessel in Bajo de Masinloc, Zambales on Monday, a belated report from the Philippine Coast Guard said on Wednesday.

The PCG, on the other hand, failed to identify which flag the commercial vessel belongs to.

"One crew of FFB DEARYN shared that it occurred around 4:20 AM on 02 October 2023 while their mother boat was moored to payao for fishing 85 nautical miles northwest of BDM. The mother boat submerged, resulting in the death of its three crew members, including its boat captain," the PCG report released on Wednesday said.

Further, the report said the eleven crew members who survived the maritime incident utilized their eight service boats to leave the vicinity waters and transport the deceased victims to Barangay Cato, Infanta, Pangasinan.

"They arrived around 10 AM yesterday, 03 October 2023, and reported the incident to the nearest Coast Guard sub-station for necessary assistance," the PCG report stated.

Bajo de Masinloc is a known lair of Chinese maritime operatives guarding the lagoon for Filipino fishermen, as they claim that it belongs to their territory.

The Philippines, on the other hand, claims that the Bajo de Masinloc, or Scarborough Shoal, belongs to the exclusive economic zone of the country.