BFAR exec insists Taiwanese fishing boat was in PHL waters

A Philippine official on Thursday insisted that the Taiwanese fishing boat where a fisherman was shot dead by Philippine authorities was in Philippine waters, contradicting Taiwan's claim based on its satellite record.

“Meron tayong mapa, may coordinates po tayong sinusunod," said Asis Perez, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), in an interview on GMA News TV's “News To Go. "At doon naman sa lokasyon kung saan nangyari iyon, clearly nasa loob po siya ng Philippine waters."

The killing of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng, 65, has sparked outrage in Taiwan, which has announced a series of economic sanctions against the Philippines. A satellite record released by the Taiwanese government showed the route of the fishing vessels were not in Philippine waters.

But according to Perez, the incident happened 43 nautical miles east of Balintang Channel and south of Batanes, which he said is safely inside the Philippines' 200-nautical mile-wide exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Perez said they are verifying claims by their personnel based on existing documents and coordinates following the release of Taiwan's satellite record.

“Ang tingin namin nasa loob ng ating Philippine waters po 'yun pero bahagi pa rin po ito ng ating ongoing investigation,” he said.

Patrol

The incident occurred on May 9 after BFAR and Coast Guard personnel, on board MCS 3001, spotted and chased Taiwanese fishing vessels in waters off Batanes island. At that time, they were conducting control and surveillance operations against possible trespassers in the EEZ.

“Habang nagpapatrolya, nakita ang una dalawa [tapos] naging apat ang non-Filipino fishing vessel. Nagkaroon po ng habulan at nagkaroon nang ganitong insidente,” Perez said in the “News To Go” interview.

Perez declined to answer when asked on why there was a need to fire guns during the incident, saying he doesn't want to preempt the results of the ongoing investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Perez said the BFAR and Coast Guard personnel attempted to board the foreign boats in accordance with protocol, but the Taiwanese fishermen would not let them.

Poachers

Taiwanese poachers are not uncommon in the waters near Batanes, Cagayan and Aurora provinces, according to Perez.

"Marami tayong nahuhuling Taiwanese vessel. Madami po tayo namumultahan at madaming barkong pangisda na nakumpiska,” he said, adding, “Kamakailan lang po ay mayroon tayong namultahan na $100,000 na Taiwanese fishing vessel din po."

He said BFAR and Coast Guard personnel are continously patrolling the Philippine territory and that they will review their protocol to implement changes to prevent similar incidents happening in the future.

“Hindi natin pwedeng pabayaan ang ating mandato dahil may ganitong insidente. Tuloy-tuloy ang ating trabaho,” Perez said. — Andrei Medina/KBK, GMA News