11 Vietnamese face charges for illegal fishing in Batanes

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan , Philippines  – Another group of Vietnamese fishermen is now facing criminal and administrative charges for allegedly poaching off the country’s northernmost waters earlier this week.

Dr. Jovita Ayson, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources for Cagayan Valley, yesterday said that the criminal aspect of the case against the 11 suspects is set for filing at the Batanes Regional Trial Court in Basco town next week.

The administrative case against the Vietnamese, she said, will be filed at the BFAR regional office here. Their names are being withheld pending the formal filing of the charges against them.

“I had sent one of my men to proceed to Basco to file the criminal charges against them. When he comes back, we’ll file the administrative case against them (for the same offense),” she said.

The suspects, if convicted, would be facing a minimum imprisonment of one year, besides paying the government some amount for damages.

Now in the custody of the Batanes police, the suspects, aboard a Vietnamese fishing boat with No. 39879, were reportedly accosted in waters off Itbayat town in the island province of Batanes on Wednesday.

According to Senior Superintendent Eduardo Castillejos, Batanes police director, the fishermen were in the process of illegally collecting corals and other marine resources using a compressor when maritime police arrested them.

Earlier this year, BFAR also filed similar charges against a Taiwanese ship captain and his four Chinese crew members, whom authorities arrested for illegal fishing off the Batanes coast in December.

Since last year, at least 100 foreign and local fishermen were either charged for poaching or illegal fishing, including 12 foreigners who were convicted each of one-year imprisonment for poaching off Philippine waters.        – Charlie Lagasca