MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima on Monday insisted that the Taiwanese fishermen shot at by personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) last May 9 are inside Philippine territory.
"Our jurisdiction is clear -- the incident happened inside our territory which is why we are conducting an investigation," De Lima said.
She said that the shooting incident took place 43 nautical miles east of Balintang Island, which is well within the Philippine territory. She said that this is based on the global positioning system record of the PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources.
"Probably you should ask the Taiwanese government why they are conducting their own investigation. They probably have extra-territorial jurisdiction like if the victim is a Taiwanese or the vessel is registered under the Taiwanese name," De Lima said.
The Taiwanese goverment has sent an investigating team in Manila and an eight-man team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) is conducting a parallel probe in Taiwan.
The NBI team has returned to the Philippines and is already wrapping up its probe. The Taiwanese investigators, on the other hand, also finished their probe after inspecting the PCG vessel involved in the incident, watching the video of the incident and interviewing the PCG personnel who were present during the shooting.
De Lima said said that the public should not speculate on the outcome of the NBI's investigation.
"We should not speculate. We should wait for the report [of the NBI]. The video will also be part of the report, what exactly is shown in the video and how it impacts on the conclusion," De Lima said.