Balintang shooting trial resumes this month

MANILA, Philippines - After a three-month break, the trial of eight Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officers involved in the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese poacher off Balintang Channel in May 2013 will resume this month.

Batanes Judge Ramon Barona set the hearings on Feb. 23 and 24, said defense lawyer Rodrigo Moreno.

“It will be a continuation of the prosecution’s presentation of their witnesses and start of cross-examination,” Moreno said. 

In November, Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera presented as first witness Hung Yu-chih, son of victim Hung Shih-cheng, who narrated the circumstances surrounding the encounter, the sea chase and the death of his father.

Yu-chih failed to tell the court their exact location at the time of the shooting as the Global Positioning System of their fishing vessel and its hydraulic pumps were damaged when the PCG personnel fired at their boat.

Commanding Officer Arnold dela Cruz; Seamen 1st Class (SN1) Mhelvin Bendo II, Andy Golfo, Sunny Masangcay, Henry Solomon and Adrando Aguila; SN2 Nicky Aurello, and Petty Officer 2 Richard Fernandez Corpuz – have pleaded not guilty of homicide during their arraignment last year.

They are out on bail but under administrative custody of the PCG.

They have filed a petition before the Supreme Court seeking the transfer of their trial from Batanes to Manila.