Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 20) ⁠— Vice President Leni Robredo will meet on Friday with the fishermen of the boat which sank after being hit by a Chinese vessel in the West Philippine Sea on June 9.

Robredo will head to San Jose, Occidental Mindoro for a dialogue with the 22-member crew of F/B Gem-Ver who were left adrift in the Recto Bank -- an area also known as Reed Bank that is within the country's exclusive economic zone.

Her visit comes after boat captain Junel Insigne retracted his previous statement that the Chinese vessel intentionally rammed their boat. The retraction was made right after his closed-door meeting with Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol.

The Agriculture chief has denied pressuring the fishermen into changing their account of the event.

READ: Piñol denies pressuring Filipino fishermen to revise ramming account

Robredo earlier said she wants the Chinese vessel's crew to face Philippine courts for ramming Gem-Ver and abandoning the fishermen at sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to which Beijing and Manila are signatories, requires member-states to mandate ships flying their flag to rescue persons distressed at sea.

READ: Robredo wants Chinese nationals in Recto Bank ramming incident to face PH courts

President Rodrigo Duterte referred to the sinking of the boat as "a little maritime accident," echoing China.

China and Malacanang are both pushing for a Philippine-China joint probe on the boat sinking incident.