Phl, Taiwanese probers disagree on site of fatal shooting

MANILA, Philippines - After collecting pieces of forensic evidence and doing interviews in each other’s country, Filipino and Taiwanese investigators have yet to agree on whose territory the fatal shooting of a suspected Taiwanese poacher last May 9 took place.

The Philippines said the killing of Hung Shih-cheng by members of its coast guard happened 43 nautical miles east of Balintang island near Batanes.

Taipei, however, insisted the shooting took place within its exclusive economic zone based on maritime records gathered at the National Cheng Kung University in Tainan City.

Criminal jurisdiction over the case can only be established if questions over the location of the shooting are settled.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Taiwan authorities are conducting parallel but separate investigations into the incident, which sparked uproar in Taiwan and soured the territory’s relations with the Philippines.

“Insofar as we are concerned, it happened in Philippine waters,” Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said. The NBI is under the Department of Justice.

In a GMA News report, the Taiwanese argued that the fishing boat’s voyage data recorder (VDR) marked the vessel’s coordinates within Taiwan’s EEZ.

Every Taiwanese vessel is reportedly equipped with VDR, which is connected to global positioning system (GPS). The boats record their coordinates every three minutes.

Taipei earlier announced that the incident took place within Taiwan’s and the Philippines’ “overlapping” EEZ or at 39 nautical miles off Batanes.

The NBI team sent to Taiwan for the parallel probe led by foreign liaison division chief head agent Daniel Deganzo was able to get hold of the VDR of Guang Ta Hsin 28.

But Deganzo reportedly said such evidence would not be material in the NBI probe and would only serve as “an input” unless the coordinates shown in it match those recorded by the PCG.

The fisherman’s daughter, Hung Tzu Chien, earlier said she was readying murder charges against those responsible for her father’s death but did not name respondents.

Taiwanese officials were quoted earlier as saying they expected nothing less than findings of criminal liability against the PCG personnel.

For Manila Economic and Cultural Office chair Amadeo Perez, the filing of murder cases would only complicate the matter “because the supposed defendants are here in the Philippines.” 

As of yesterday, the Taiwanese prosecutors and investigators in Manila were interviewing the rest of the 17 PCG members involved in the incident.

Earlier this week, they viewed the video footage of the incident taken by the PCG.

The Taiwanese had also inspected the MCS-3001, the vessel used by the PCG. The vessel is owned by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.

The Taiwanese had also performed ballistic examination of the firearms used by the coast guards in the incident, including eight M-16 rifles, six M-14 rifles and a machine gun.

In Taipei, Deganzo’s team was able to retrieve slugs from the fishing vessel and recorded 40 bullet holes.

They also interviewed the family of the fisherman as well as his companions during the encounter with the PCG personnel.

Deganzo said the evidence they had gathered would help them determine if the PCG men had used excessive force in dealing with the suspected Taiwanese poachers.

“We will bring to Manila everything that we will gather so we can use it when we make our report,” he said in the GMA News interview.  With Pia Lee-Brago, Rey Galupo