Sino poacher who eluded arrest found on islet

MANILA, Philippines - A Chinese fisherman who jumped into the sea after the high-powered speedboat bearing him and five other compatriots was intercepted by a joint Navy-Marine patrol team off Balabac, Palawan last Thursday, was found hiding yesterday on one of the islets in the area, the military said.

Lt. Gen. Juancho Sabban, commander of the Armed Forces’ Western Command, said the sixth Chinese fisherman was reunited with his colleagues now confined at the Wescom hospital in Puerto Princesa City.

The Navy personnel and Marines were on maritime and security patrol in the southern side of the hotly contested West Philippine Sea, when they chanced upon the Chinese fishermen catching endangered sea turtles off the coast of Barangay Ramos, Balabac town last Thursday. 

While the soldiers were about to board the speedboat, one of the six Chinese fishermen jumped into the water. A search was launched for him while his colleagues were taken to the Balabac police station aboard Navy gunboat PS-36. 

Maj. Niel Estrella, Wescom spokesman, said a seaborne operation has been launched for the mother ship of the arrested Chinese fishermen, with the help of the Philippine Coast Guard, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and the Department of Energy.

Estrella said the mother vessel could still be in the open sea, as the intercepted speedboat could have impossibly sailed all the way from mainland China.

He said the Chinese fishermen, who yielded 12 sea turtles, are now under the custody of concerned authorities in Puerto Princesa City.