Last Friday, at 1:34 am, another incident happened in the South China Sea, wherein a foreign cargo vessel, later identified as Filipino, capsized at 55 nautical miles northwest of China’s Huangyan Dao (Panatag shoal).
The China Coast Guard received the report on this accident from the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Sansha City, Hainan Province, and immediately dispatched two vessels to implement a search and rescue operation.
It turned out that a total of 21 Filipino crew members were on board the cargo vessel at that time, and several were immediately rescued.
When the Chinese embassy in Manila announced the news, the rescue operations were still ongoing and the first 13 crew members were already safe.
This incident led us to recall a similar accident last Christmas day, Dec. 25, 2025 when Pinoy fisherman Larry Tumalis was rescued by a passing China ship after days of being stranded in his fishing boat which suffered engine failure.
The Chinese Navy ship 174 responded to the situation by delivering essential food and drinking water to the Filipino, who had been adrift for about three days.
The Chinese vessel also coordinated follow-up actions with the Philippine Coast Guard to ensure the safety and eventual recovery of the stranded fishermen.
The incident highlights ongoing maritime humanitarian coordination in the region, despite broader tensions in the South China Sea.
Earlier, Tumalis gathered soot from his boat's motor and wrote "HELP ME" on a white board, thus he was noticed by the passing Chinese vessel.
This small Christian gesture of help from the Chinese to the Filipino, happening as it was on Christmas Day, would have merited a sincere "thank you" from Philippine authorities.
But the PCG task force spokes Jay Tarriela, ever on the lookout for any incident in the South China Sea that could be interpreted as part of his perceived aggressive actions by China, touted a political spin that the Chinese side thought crossed the line, and they had to reply.
This time around, Tarriela perhaps realized the seriousness of the situation, or he has learned his lesson that Chinese embassy officials cannot be pressured into silence if lies and propaganda are dished out against their country.
There are more lessons that Tarriela should consider. Such as letting the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) do its job of implementing the country’s foreign policy, and making good use of diplomacy when diplomacy is needed.
If Tarriela wants confrontation, he might as well take a cue from US President Donald Trump, of whom the commodore is arguably a big fan of.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #OpinYonNews #ViewfromCalumpang