12 Chinese fishermen transferred to Palawan jail

MANILA, Philippines - The Palawan provincial prosecutor ordered yesterday the transfer to the provincial jail of the 12 Chinese crewmembers of a fishing vessel that ran aground at Tubbataha Reef.

On Wednesday night, the provincial prosecutor’s office ordered the Judge Advocate General’s Office (JAGO) of the Western Command (Wescom) in Puerto Princesa City to take temporary custody of the 12 Chinese, who are facing charges of poaching and corruption of public officials, and to ensure that their needs are provided for.

“We have filed the poaching case as well as the corruption of public officials,” Angelique Songco of the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) said, adding the prosecutors’ office would be forwarding the cases to the court.

Both cases are bailable and the poaching charge is punishable only with six months and one day to 12 years’ imprisonment.

Naval Forces West (Navforwest) commander Commodore Joseph Rustom Peña also confirmed the 12 Chinese have been ordered committed to the Palawan Provincial Jail.

Legal proceedings resumed yesterday against the 12 accused Chinese after the court declared a recess on Wednesday night due to the absence of a lawyer of their choice to defend them.

“What happened the other day was only the reading of the charges against them before the Palawan provincial prosecutors’ office. The legal proceedings resumed at about 8:30 a.m. today,” an official of Wescom said.

Aside from poaching, agencies supporting the efforts of Tubbataha Marine Park and Palawan provincial committee are also studying the filing of additional charges against the Chinese fishermen.

A separate probe is also being conducted to determine how the fishing vessel got into Tubbataha, a protected marine area and a UNESCO-declared heritage site in the Sulu Sea.

“With the type and kind of fishing vessel that got stuck at Tubbataha, we could only wonder why the vessel is only manned by 12 personnel when in fact most of their fishing boats of that kind are usually with more than 30 personnel each,” a military observer said.

The PCG will try to re-float the 48-meter long Ming Long Yu on Sunday with the help of their two vessels, BRP Corregidor and BRP Romblon.

PCG Palawan district commander Commodore Enrico Efren Evangelista said they are still waiting for the BRP Corregidor to arrive at the atoll to serve as primary salvage ship.

Evangelista said the BRP Romblon was already at the site while the BRP Corregidor would be coming from Manila and is expected to arrive by the weekend.

“Our expectation is it would arrive at the site on April 13 so they could start to lighten the weight of the Chinese ship on April 14,” he said.

On board the two Coast Guard vessels are divers, medical and oil spill response teams from the Special Operations Group (SOG) and their equipment.

A senior military official who used to be assigned at Wescom expressed doubt over the intention of the 12 Chinese led by their 46-year-old captain Liu Chang Jie, from Shandong, China.

He said from their looks the 12 were not the typical Chinese fishermen arrested before for illegal fishing and poaching inside the country’s maritime domain.

The same official said China has been deploying paramilitary personnel disguised as fishermen in the West Philippine Sea as part of its continuing effort to expand its territorial waters.

Evangelista said unlike the US minesweeper that took 73 days to dismantle and remove from the reef, extracting the Ming Long Yu would be easier because its steel hull and propeller remained intact.

He clarified the two ships ran aground in different locations of Tubbataha. The Ming Long Yu was stuck at the southern part of the north atoll while the USS Guardian was at the northern part of the south atoll. Between the two locations is a channel.

In re-floating the Chinese vessel, the Coast Guard may not even have to siphon off all its fuel.

“Maybe by the time we have extracted 40,000 liters of diesel from the ship, it would have re-floated already,” he said.

If the need arises the Coast Guard may also remove the water from the ship’s cargo hold to make it lighter.

“The salvage operation is very dynamic. The ultimate goal is to remove the vessel safely without causing damage to the reef,” Evangelista said. – With Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan, Ding Cervantes, Michelle Zoleta, Mike Frialde, Jose Rodel Clapano, Christina Mendez