12 Viet fishers apprehended off Tawi-Tawi

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Navymen apprehended 12 Vietnamese fishermen for poaching in Philippine waters off Tawi-Tawi last Saturday.

Capt. Feliciano Angue, chief of the anti-terror Naval Task Force 62, said the Vietnam-registered fishing vessel was intercepted off Taganak Islands, a known fishing ground near the country’s border with the Malaysian state of Sabah.

Angue said the Vietnamese fishermen failed to present any pertinent documents for fishing in Philippine waters.

The Vietnamese vessel, he said, was towed to Tawi-Tawi while cases of poaching and illegal entry were being readied against the 12 foreign fishermen.

Three weeks ago, the Naval Task Force 62 also apprehended 20 Malaysian and 27 Indonesian fishermen. — Roel Pareño