8 Coast Guard personnel convicted for 2013 killing of Taiwanese fisherman

A Manila court on Wednesday convicted eight Coast Guard personnel for the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman in 2013, an incident that prompted Taipei to place sanctions on Manila at the time.

The Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 sentenced them to eight to 14 years in prison after finding them guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide for the killing of Hong Chi Sheng at Balintang Channel off Batanes on May 9, 2013.

Commander Arnold dela Cruz, Seaman Second Class Nicky Aurelio, and Seaman First Class Edrando Aguila, Mhelvyn Bendo II, Andy Gibb Golfo, Sonny Masangkay, Henry Solomon and Petty Officer Richard Corpuz were accused of fatally shooting the fisherman. 

All of them were present at the promulgation of judgment on Wednesday morning.

The Taiwanese fisherman, 65, was killed when Coast Guard personnel shot at his boat, claiming it attempted to ram a vessel belonging to the Department of Agriculture's Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The incident prompted Taiwan to demand a formal apology from the Philippines, recall its envoy to Manila, and freeze its hiring of Filipino workers, among eight other sanctions. The Aquino administration apologized; the sanctions were subsequently lifted.

Lawyers for the Coast Guard men claimed the officers caught the Taiwanese vessel poaching in Philippine waters.

Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Armand Balilo said he respects the court's decision but maintained "they just did their duty defending our territorial integrity."

In the 32-page ruling, however, Judge Eduardo Ramon Reyes wrote that the evidence prove the identity and participation of the eight Coast Guard personnel in the death of the fisherman, and found they killed him "with no legal justification duly proven."

"In this case, the prosecution has clearly established the intent to kill on the part of accused as shown by their act of shooting the Guang Da Xing No. 28 vessel (the Taiwanese vessel) with the use of high-velocity firearms while they were chasing it," the ruling stated.

"Intent to kill is also manifest considering the 53 points of impact found in Guang Da Xing No. 28 vessel. No extenuating circumstance was presented by the accused to show that the killing of the victim was legally justified," it added. —KBK, GMA News