122 Viet poachers nabbed

MANILA, Philippines - The Maritime Group of the Philippine National Police has in its custody 122 Vietnamese fishermen who were caught poaching off Balabac, Palawan last weekend, a maritime official told the Senate committee on environment and natural resources yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, of the PNP Maritime Group, also told reporters after the Senate hearing that six Chinese nationals who were collecting green sea turtles (pawikan) were earlier arrested in the same area.

“Because of that, we intensified our security operations in the area. We sent more personnel and two police tugboats were dispatched. On May 30, we spotted the Vietnamese in seven boats, so we arrested them,” Dolina said.