NBI probes PHL Coast Guard encounter with Taiwanese fishing vessels

Published May 15, 2013 11:36pm

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has begun its probe into the incident between the Philippine Coast Guard and four Taiwanese fishing boats that resulted in the death of one fisherman ffrom Taiwan.

In a letter to Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral Rodolfo Isorena, NBI deputy director for regional operation services Virgilio Mendez asked the PCG to turnover the firearm used in the incident, a report by GMA News' Divine Caraecle on dzBB radio said Wednesday evening.

Last May 9, a Philippine patrol vessel encountered four Taiwanese fishing boats in disputed waters off extreme northern Luzon.

The PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources said in a joint statement on May 10 that their boat "encountered four foreign fishing vessels within Philippine Archipelagic waters."

BFAR and PCG said the crew of their Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) boat "tried to board one of the vessels and in ensuing maneuvers, one of the Taiwanese fishing vessels repeatedly tried to ram our MCS forcing our MCS to fire warning shots and eventually, on the machinery portion of the vessel to disable the same."

Reports from Taiwan said a 65-year-old fisherman was shot dead in the incident, which prompted Taiwan to demand that the Philippines apologize and compensate the fisherman's family, punish the guilty parties, and enter into fishery cooperation talks soonest.

In a statement on May 12, Malacañang said Antonio Basilio, resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taiwan, "has visited the family of the victim and extended condolences and offered his apologies."

While Manila had sent a response to Taipei, Taiwan's government rejected it and suspended the hiring of Filipino laborers.

On Wednesday evening, Taiwan also imposed a second round of sanctions, including a red travel alert on the Philippines. — ELR, GMA News

Tags: taiwan