SCARBOROUGH SHOAL, West Philippine Sea (The Adobo Chronicles, on board a Philippine Navy ship) – It started as a courageous attempt to do an in-depth, investigative report on the collision between a Filipino fishing boat and a private Chinese vessel, but it ended up as a nightmare on the part of online news site Rappler.
In her desire to be ahead of the game in reporting on the maritime incident, Rappler CEO Maria Ressa sent her most competent and trusted Rapplerette to the scene of the incident via a jet ski earlier donated to her team by Omidyar Network.
Alas, the jet ski and its Rappler occupant were spotted by a Chinese vessel and perceived as a threat, hostile to the Chinese.
The Chinese vessel went full steam towards the Rappler jet ski and rammed the brand new equipment, causing irreparable damage.
Upon the jet ski’s return to shore, Ressa held a press conference to show the damage and to demand that the Duterte government file a diplomatic protest with China and if warranted, invoke the U.S.-Philippines Defense Treaty for the appropriate Chinese redress to the fate Rappler relative to this incident.
This is a developing story. Stand by for an Adobo Chronicles animation of this very unfortunate incident,
