Phl rejects Taiwan ‘murder’ claim

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines yesterday rejected Taiwan’s allegations that its coast guard had intentionally murdered a Taiwanese fisherman whose death has triggered a major diplomatic spat.

Chen Wen-chi, head of the Taiwan team investigating the May 9 incident, said most of the bullets hit the fishing boat’s cockpit where its crew hid.

“By combining the... evidence, it clearly shows that the Philippine law enforcers were intentionally shooting the Guang Ta Hsin 28 crew members, which indicates their intent of murder,” Chen, director of the Taiwanese Ministry of Justice’s department of international and cross-strait legal affairs, told a news conference in Makati City.

Malacañang, however, rejected the murder allegations.

“First of all, we have our own investigation that is ongoing and because of that we are not going to comment on the details... We will defer to the progress updates that are being given by the investigating body, meaning the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) on the matter. I think, on the other points, we will not respond because we have adopted a stand that we do not want to escalate things any further now that the situation is delicate,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang also took exception to the allegations of murder by the visiting Taiwanese investigators.

“There is an investigation ongoing so any premature statements that tend to confuse the issues and inflame passions should be avoided,” he said.

Valte said President Aquino had chosen the NBI to handle the investigation so it would be “impartial, objective” and would not be subject to criticisms by some groups.

“It is better for the NBI to talk, especially on the findings on their investigation,” she said.

Valte said Justice Secretary Leila de Lima had explained that a joint investigation was not possible without following protocols. The Philippines officially recognizes Beijing under a one-China policy but maintains trade ties with Taiwan.

The NBI said the investigation would be incomplete if they were not allowed inspection of the bullet-riddled fishing boat in Taiwan.

“We also want to see the vessel involved and look at the alleged bullet holes and talk, if possible, with the crew members,” NBI Director Nonnatus Cesar Rojas said.

He said the NBI is preparing the team for the trip to Taiwan to complete the investigation of the incident.

Valte, on the other hand, said Amadeo Perez Jr., chairman of the Manila Economic Cultural Office (MECO), had been sent as “the personal representative of the President” so there was no more basis to again demand an apology from Aquino.

Valte said the President wanted to convey his sympathies to the family of the Taiwanese fisherman killed, which has caused social outrage in Taiwan.

Aquino made a “personal” apology on Wednesday over the “unintended” death arising from the PCG’s duty of protecting Philippine waters against illegal fishing.

Taiwan has rejected the apology. It recalled its de facto envoy, banned the hiring of Filipino workers, and staged a military drill in waters off the northern Philippines earlier this week.

Mindsets

The comments made by the Taiwanese investigators led by Chen in Manila yesterday echoed those made by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou in Taipei on Friday.

“If (Philippine) civil servants used automatic weapons to fire at unarmed and provocative fishing boats, this was not carrying out their job duties. This is cold-blooded murder,” Ma said.

Chen said her team was flying back to Taiwan immediately, saying their Filipino counterparts showed “lack of sincerity and credibility.”

Valte said the Philippines had “repeatedly expressed deep regret” over the “unintended consequence of the law enforcement operation that was ongoing at that time.”

She said it was difficult to address the allegations from the Taiwanese investigators that the Philippines was “insincere” because that was their interpretation.

“But on our part, we can assure them that our expressions of sympathy have always been sincere,” Valte said.

The 65-year-old fisherman was shot dead by the PCG that said his vessel intruded into Philippine waters.

The shooting, which Manila insists occurred inside Philippine territorial waters but which Taipei counters happened within its exclusive economic zone, has led to Taiwanese sanctions against its southern neighbor.

A map circulating in the Internet and which came from Taiwan’s own government website (cga.gov.tw) showed the confrontation between the PCG and the Taiwanese fishermen on May 9 occurred within Philippine territory, not in Taiwanese or international waters as claimed by Taipei.

A copy of the map obtained earlier yesterday by The STAR from the website link http://www.cga.gov.tw/GipOpen/wSite/public/Attachment/f1368153033684.pdf had markings to indicate where the Taiwanese fishing boat was “conducting livelihood,” where the shooting incident took place, as well as where a report of the incident was made.

The first two points were clearly within the Luzon Sea, while the third point – where the report was made – was beyond the demarcation line.

As of press time, the website cga.gov.tw and the link to the map were no longer accessible.

Fallout

Manila has warned its 87,000 nationals who work in Taiwan to stay indoors after a Filipino man was allegedly hospitalized in a baseball bat attack in Kaohsiung.

Manila is also calling on Taiwan to protect Filipino workers following the attack.

“This is what we do not want to happen, that our fellowmen will be affected, which is why we have repeatedly asked them, we have repeatedly made the call for calm and that our Filipino overseas workers in Taiwan have nothing to do with (the incident)… They are there to work, they are not there to make trouble,” Valte said.

She said MECO has formed a team to investigate the reported attacks on Filipinos in Taiwan in coordination with Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. – Aurea Calica, Evelyn Macairan, Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano, Czeriza Valencia, Michelle Zoleta, Ricky Bautista