Ten members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) will face cases over the death of a Taiwanese fisherman off Batanes on May 9, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said Wednesday.
Those who will be charged with homicide are Commanding Officer Arnold dela Cruz, Seaman First Class (SN1) Mhelvin Bendo, SN1 Henry Solomon, SN2 Nicky Aurelio, SN1 Andy Gibb Golfo, SN1 Sunny Masangcay, PO2 Richard Corpuz and SN1 Edrando Aguila, who fired the shot that killed 65-year-old fisherman Hung Shih-chen.
Dela Cruz, Bendo, SN1 Marvin Ramirez and Lieutenant Junior Grade Martin Bernabe will also be charged with obstruction of justice for tampering with evidence when they spliced eight video footage of the shooting incident and falsified monthly gunnery reports in order to reflect a smaller amount of ammunition (36 rounds of ammunition instead of 108) used.
Administrative charges have also been recommended by the NBI to the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), which supervises the PCG.
NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas said the PCG personnel failed to back up their claim that they fired the Taiwanese vessel out of self-defense because the attempt to ram the Philippine ship was not clear based on the video taken by the coast guard.
“Abuse of superior strength is not present in the instant case because the PCG crew did not purposely use excessive force out of proportion to the means available to the Taiwanese fishermen. The firing was made intermittently, and even when made indiscriminately, it was not fully taken advantage of the PCG personnel. The force employed was mainly aimed to disable the engine and not to maim or kill the fishermen,” the report stated.
Dispelling notions of murder, the NBI said the incident between the MCS 3001 of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 east of Balintang Channel was unplanned and unpremeditated.
The PCG suspected the Taiwanese fishing vessel of poaching in Philippine waters. The incident took place some 40 nautical miles from the country’s baselines and within the Philippines’ 200-kilometer exclusive economic zone.
“The PCG personnel admittedly directly fired at the vessel but that was after repeated warning shots and reasonable number of continuous announcement made and the blowing of horn, establishing sufficient warning to the Taiwanese fishermen. The video footage taken during the incident belied the allegations of the crew of the Taiwanese fishing vessel that were just fired upon instantaneously and without warning,” the NBI said.
The NBI will file the cases with the Department of Justice. Rojas said Hung’s relatives are welcome to join the complaint.
PCG spokesman Armand Balilo said they respect the report. He declined to elaborate.
The NBI and Taiwan conducted parallel probe into the incident in late May as respective teams gathered evidence and interviewed the crew of Taiwanese vessel and the ship manned by the Filipino coast guards.
The incident strained relations between the Philippines and Taiwan, which implemented freeze hiring that affected more than 6,000 Filipinos whose contracts had not been renewed.
It took almost two months for the government to disclose the report to the public although Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had said that part of the recommendations was the filing of criminal and administrative charges against the involved coast guards.
A copy of the report was already given to Taiwanese authorities
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