PHL assures Vietnam of ‘fair and thorough’ probe into death of its two fishermen

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Monday assured Vietnam of a fair and thorough investigation on the deaths of its two fishermen during a boat chase incident involving the Philippine Navy off the coast of Pangasinan on Saturday.

Cayetano gave the assurance to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh during an Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Foreign Ministers meeting at the United Nations in New York hours after the incident.

"We would like to offer our sympathies over the unfortunate loss of life and give you our assurance that we will conduct a fair and thorough investigation into this matter," Cayetano said in a statement.

Two Vietnamese fishermen were found dead and five others were arrested Sunday after they were spotted fishing within the country's exclusive territory 35 nautical miles off Bolinao, prompting a night chase and the Philippine Navy to fire shots after it was hit by a Vietnamese fishing vessel.

In the ensuing chase, one of the Vietnamese boats initiated very dangerous maneuvers that resulted in it slamming into the left front and left center of the Philippine patrol vessel, authorities said.

This prompted personnel on board the Navy vessel to fire warning shots and when the Navy personnel boarded the fishing vessel, they found two dead Vietnamese fishermen.

Cayetano informed Vietnamese officials that investigating teams from the Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police are already in Vietnam to look into the incident.

He also told them that the five Vietnamese fishermen taken into custody will be accorded proper treatment and that they can be accessed anytime.

He said the Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila is in touch with officials of the Vietnamese Embassy to update them on developments and facilitate their access to their nationals, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. —ALG/KG, GMA News