Taiwan lauds Philippine move to charge coastguardsmen

Manila: Administrators in Taiwan lauded a recent decision by the Philippine government to charge eight coastguardsmen implicated in the May 9, 2013 shooting at sea of a Taiwanese fisherman.

In an official statement issued by Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), it said it “applauds the Philippine judiciary for its fair ruling” on the incident, which had initially strained ties between the two neighbouring territories and had caused serious concerns over the safety as well as continued employment of thousands of Filipinos in Taiwan.

Last March 17, 2014, a panel of government prosecutors formed to investigate the incident charged eight members of its coast guard in connection with shooting that took place within the Philippine side of its sea border with Taiwan.

The coastguardsmen, who were aboard a boat were detailed with the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. They had shot at the Taiwanese fishing vessel, Guang Da Xing No. 28 (GDX 28) to scare off the apparent intruders.

In the act of firing at the foreign boat, the Filipino coastguardsmen hit Hong Shi-cheng, a 65-year-old member of the GDX 28’s crew.

The death of Hong sparked outrage in Taiwan. There had been reports that some Filipinos in the territory had been hurt in apparent hate attacks.

The panel had recommended the prosecution for homicide and obstruction of justice the Filipino coastguardsmen.

In its statement issued March 18, the MOFA reiterated that all four demands of the Taiwanese administrators that they had made to the Philippines government with regards to the incident had been met.

“The government’s (Taiwanese) four demands—for an apology, compensation, punishment of perpetrators, and fishery talks—have now been met. The ROC (Republic of China or ROC) government commends the Philippine Department of Justice for filing homicide charges against those involved in the GDX 28 incident and upholding justice. Both countries are also working to ensure the safety of Taiwan fishermen through negotiations,” it said.

The shooting incident, which involved the coast guard members delivering automatic rifle fire against unarmed Taiwanese fishermen, took place 43 nautical miles from Batanes, the Philippines’ northernmost province which is close to the border with Taiwan.

The two sides had conducted separate parallel investigations on the shooting incident. In the August 7, 2013 report by the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation, it recommended the filing of charges against the eight concerned coastguardsmen who are headed by Lt. Arnold Enriquez dela Cruz.

While the parallel probe had been taking place, officials from both sides had been holding talks on the enforcement of laws at sea.

“To ensure that Taiwan fishermen can operate safely at sea, the ROC and the Philippines held two rounds of fisheries talks, reaching a consensus to refrain from using violence in law enforcement actions, notify each other prior to such actions, and promptly release detained fishing vessels and crews in case of arrest,” the MOFA said.

“Negotiations are still in progress on the signing of an agreement on law enforcement cooperation in fishery matters,” it said, adding that “indictment of the perpetrators has remained a priority issue for MOFA and the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO).”

The TECO is Taiwan’s de facto embassy in the Philippines TECO. The two territories have no formal diplomatic ties in recognition of the People’s Republic of China’s insistence that there is only one China.