Coast Guard men in Balintang shooting post bail in Manila

The 10 Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel facing charges for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman in disputed waters in May last year have posted bail on Wednesday.

 

Lawyer Rodrigo Moreno, counsel for the accused, said the Coast Guard men posted two separate bails at the Manila Regional Trial Court and Manila Metropolitan Trial Court: P40,000 for the homicide case against eight PCG men; and P12,000 for the obstruction of justice case against two of the eight men and two others not included in the homicide case.

 

Moreno said even if the cases against his clients were filed at a Batanes court, they are allowed "to post bail where you were arrested," as prescribed under Rule 113 and 114 of the Rules on Criminal Procedure on arrest and bail.

 

Last month, Judge Ramon Baroña of the Batanes Regional Trial Court Branch 13 issued arrest warrants against the Coast Guard men facing homicide charges for the incident.

 

A bail of P40,000 each was recommended for the suspects' temporary liberty.

 

Ordered arrested were:

 

 

A Cagayan court earlier issued separate arrest warrants against Dela Cruz, Bendo, and SN1 Marvin Ramirez, and LTJG Martin Bernabe for obstruction of justice. The Cagayan court set a P12,000 bail. The four were charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly tampering with the video footage of incident.

 

Taiwanese Hung Shih-cheng, 65, was killed during the May 9 incident at the Balintang Channel near the Luzon Strait when Coast Guard personnel sprayed bullets at his boat, claiming that the fisherman attempted to ram a Department of Agriculture-BFAR Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS-3001) vessel.

 

The Coast Guard men were with personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) on board a BFAR vessel  when the shooting happened. — Mark Merueñas/RSJ, GMA News