According to this South China Morning Post article posted June 22, 2019, friction continues between the Philippines and China over the collision that had occurred over a week ago in a disputed maritime area off the coast of the Philippines. Duterte’s strongman image is softened as he dismisses the collision which put the lives of 22 fishermen in harm’s way as “just a collision,” however, former Philippine president Benigno Aquino III has a different perspective of the incident. Since the incident, Aquino has been vocal and contends that the captain of the Chinese vessel had a moral and legal obligation to help the stranded fishermen.
According to statistics, this may not be an isolated incident as President Duterte has stated. Between 2014 and 2016, 10 ramming incidents have been recorded and have been met with outrage by the governments of neighboring countries. Amid the controversy, there have also been a history of skirmishes between Filipino fishermen and Chinese coast guard officials which involved the use of weapons and explosives.
Chinese officials have vowed to investigate the incident, but Aquino disregards the possibility of Philippine officials entering into a joint investigation because the two countries do not have “joint sovereignty” over the area of water.