Despite being in the middle of a major controversy of international proportions, the officers and men and women of the Philippine Coast Guard thankfully are not being distracted nor disheartened by the turn of events. The Coast Guard has shown again they are among the first responders at moments’ notice of any high sea mishap and other maritime incidents.
The Coast Guard immediately jumped into action in the rescue and relief operations when M/V Our Lady of Mt. Carmel roll-on-roll-off (RORO) ferry sank early morning last Friday. There was no bad weather but the boat reportedly suffered from an accident waiting to happen. Two died in that sea mishap, 61 were rescued and at least seven still missing as of last report.
With the onset of the rainy season, we are bracing for tropical storms that visit us at an average of 20 each year. The Coast Guard is always at the front-line during these calamities for relief and rescue missions. This is in addition to their other major functions of patrolling and protecting our territorial waters and marine environment.
And in this particular function, 17 Coast Guard officers and men led by the Commander Arnold de la Cruz who, in the discharge of their sworn duties to protect and serve the interest of the Filipinos and their beloved country, were now facing serious administrative and criminal charges.
The 17 Coast Guard personnel along with two officials from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) are among those investigated in the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese on a fishing vessel in Balintang Channel last May 9. They were on board the monitoring control and surveillance 3001 ship – which is owned by the BFAR but manned by Coast Guard personnel – when they encountered the Taiwanese fishing vessel in the overlapping territorial waters of the Philippines and Taiwan in that rich fishing area in Balintang Channel.
Unfortunately, a Taiwanese fisherman got killed in the hale of bullets fired at their fishing vessel after they allegedly tried to ram the Coast Guard-BFAR gunboat. The high sea drama was even documented in a two-hour video from the camera on board the Coast Guard-BFAR gunboat as they chased and tried but failed to board the Taiwanese fishing vessel.
From government’s end, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) looked into the incident and went all the way to Taiwan to get the side of the Taiwanese fishermen. Taiwanese officials were, in turn, also given sufficient leeway to conduct their own investigation here in Manila.
In the meantime, all of the 17 Coast Guard and the two BFAR men have been relieved of their respective posts since May 10, or a day after the incident. They are still undergoing preliminary investigation on their possible administrative and criminal liabilities in their involvement in the incident. They are facing possible murder charges for the death of the Taiwanese fisherman for alleged excessive use of superior force since the fishing vessel was not armed and for not following the rules of engagement.
The incident stirred indignation from the people and the government of Taiwan. Our countrymen working in Taiwan reaped the ire of some unreasonable sectors of the Taiwanese society agitated by politicians cashing in on the incident to hit their beleaguered leaders.
This, despite a personal apology already expressed publicly and in a letter by President Benigno “Noy†Aquino III sent through his emissary to the bereaved family of the slain Taiwanese fisherman and some monetary compensation for the loss of their breadwinner.
The death of the Taiwanese fisherman is an unwanted consequence that our Coast Guard-BFAR men have to deal with in the discharge of their duties.
As the immediate head of the investigating agency, Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed the NBI report on the incident recommended the filing of appropriate administrative and criminal cases. Without naming names, De Lima disclosed specific individuals among the Coast Guard-BFAR gunboat who were found to have fired their guns – one of whom fired the wayward bullet that killed the Taiwanese fisherman – will be charged here before the Philippine courts.
Of course, this is not to say the Coast Guard-BFAR men are not getting a fair shake from our own Philippine government authorities. As commissioned officers, they know it is part of the hazards of their job, not to mention laying down their own lives in doing so.
The NBI report has already been delivered for review and approval by no less than President Aquino himself. De Lima reiterated the findings and recommendations of the NBI report on the incident were not something designed to appease Taiwan.
All throughout this national drama, our Coast Guard was seemingly a headless chicken being bludgeoned to death over this incident. Headless, in a sense, that it has no one to defend the agency for doing its job as best it could with the available resources.
The Coast Guard is one of the attached offices under the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC). I have been trying to look for any statement or comment that its incumbent Secretary Joseph E.A. Abaya has made in defense of his embattled men at the Coast Guard. Or Abaya has become like an ostrich trying to hide its head in the ground?
In my search, I stumbled instead on a speech written and delivered in October 2010 by erstwhile DOTC Secretary Jose de Jesus during the 109th founding anniversary of the Coast Guard. In his speech entitled “Outnumbered But Never Outserved,†De Jesus was all praises to the men and women of the Coast Guard for being all over the place in helping people at the height of typhoon “Juan†that battered Luzon’s northern provinces.
In light-hearted vein, De Jesus noted the weather experts were being congratulated at that time for more accurate weather forecasts compared to their previous hits and misses. “The Coast Guard has no such luxury. It should do things right the first time because the consequences for any error could indeed be very costly,†De Jesus pointed out.
These words of De Jesus aired three years ago became providential in the present light that the 17 Coast Guard officers and men are currently in this situation. They are embattled but never outserved.