Image: Instagram/@franciafortes_mua; Facebook/Ethel Booba, Ogie Diaz
The sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese vessel at Recto Bank in the West Philippine Sea last June 9 has been a hot topic even among celebrities, who gave their two cents’ worth on the issue.
Actor Enchong Dee took to Twitter last June 15 to air his grievances, remarking how other countries think little of the Philippines.
“Ang liit ng tingin satin ng ibang bansa,” he said. “Mas liliit pa yan pag hinayaan nating manahimik para sa mangingisda natin laban sa mga bully (Other countries think so little of us. This will get worse if we keep silent about our fishermen in the fight against bullies).”
Ang liit ng tingin satin ng ibang bansa, mas liliit pa yan pag hinayaan nating manahimik para sa mangingisda natin laban sa mga Bully.
— Enchong Dee (@enchongdee777) June 15, 2019
Comedienne Ethel Booba, on her end, did not name any names in the tweet she made on June 14, leaving her followers wondering.
“You don’t have to go down in history as a clam defender, you can go down as a hero,” Ethel Booba said. “A hero who defended and fought for our sovereignty and the rights of our fishermen. Charot!”
You don't have to go down in history as a clam defender, you can go down as a hero. A hero who defended and fought for our sovereignty and the rights of our fishermen. Charot!
— Charot! (@IamCharotism) June 14, 2019
TV host Bianca Gonzalez, meanwhile, hoped for justice for the Filipino fishermen who were abandoned in the sea.
“Sana’y mabigyan ng hustisya ang buhay at pakikipagsapalaran nilang mga mangingisdang Pinoy (I hope justice will be given to the lives of the Filipino fishermen),” Gonzalez said in a tweet on June 14.
“The more details that come out from the Pinoy fishermen and China boat incident, mas lalo nakakadurog ng puso (the more heartbreaking it gets)…,” she said in another tweet on June 15.
The more details that come out from the Pinoy fishermen and China boat incident, mas lalo nakakadurog ng puso..
— Bianca Gonzalez (@iamsuperbianca) June 15, 2019
Talent manager and columnist Lolit Solis also bemoaned the heartbreaking incident on social media.
“You feel your heart aching Salve sa tuwing pinapanood ko iyon mga mangingisda na nasagip mula sa fishing boat na binangga ng Chinese vessel (every time you watch the fishermen who were rescued from the boat that was rammed by the Chinese vessel),” Solis said via Instagram on June 15.
“Ang sakit sa dibdib makita iyon 21 fishermen na mukhang pagod pero ang nasa isip ay ang 2 linggo nila sa laot at ngayon uuwi sila sa kani-kanilang pamilya na walang dala, walang kinita (It hurts to see the 21 fishermen looking tired, but whose thought is about their two weeks in the sea only to go home to their families with no catch, no earnings).”
Meanwhile, talent manager-actor Ogie Diaz and actress Jasmine Curtis were displeased with Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi’s remark dismissing the ramming as “unintentional.”
“Dear Mr. Cusi, pahinga na po kayo. Ilaan nyo na lang po ang energy nyo sa mga apo nyo, mas kailangan nila ng lolo,” Diaz said via Facebook on June 17. “Nag-aalala, kahit daplis lang, Mama Ogs.”
(Dear Mr. Cusi, please rest. You should just use your energy on your grandchildren, they need a lolo more. Concerned, even if it is just a graze, Mama Ogs).
Curtis, on her end, sounded in disbelief in her tweet last June 16, saying, “DAPLIS LANG (Just a graze)?!?!?????? WOW.”
Singer Kiana Valenciano was also the least surprised after President Duterte called the incident a maritime accident.
“Not even a little surprised,” Valenciano tweeted on June 17.
Duterte broke his silence on the sinking of the Filipino boat only yesterday, June 17, saying, “Banggaan lang ng barko ‘yan (It’s just a collision of two boats), do not make it worse.”
He also said to wait and “give the other party the right to be heard.”
“Dalawang bangka lang ‘yan (That’s just two boats). Now you go there and create a tension. I said, hindi ako g*go na presidente na papayag noon (as President, I cannot allow that),” said Duterte. “If we have to die, we must have to die in the correct way and to die with dignity. Hindi yung basta bangga ka nang ka-bangga diyan.” /ra
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