Poaching ship got dubious clearances

Here are more information on the poaching of endangered napoleon wrasse (mameng) by Chinese fishermen at Tubbataha Reef:

The owner of the f/v Hoi Wan is Gamman International Ltd. Address: Flat Rm B2, 11/F Siu Yat Bldg., DD215 Lot 941, Man Nin St., Sai Kung, Hong Kong. The consignee of Hoi Wan’s contraband of live fish, and presumably that of the missing f/v Tai Sha, is another Hong Kong company called Tai Fung Lung Trading Co. Ltd. Address: Rm 103 Tak Lok Hse, Tak Tin Est., Lam Tin, Hong Kong.

The 30 Hoi Wan crewmen are Mainland Chinese from the cheap-labor provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Hubei. "How can they call Hong Kong the Fragrant Harbor when this issue stinks?" Lory Tan of World Wildlife Fund-Philippines shakes his head. "This is a Hong Kong operation – the biggest market for napoleon wrasse – exploiting low crew salaries and the protection of Beijing. Tell me if this is not organized environment crime."

There’s a Binondo connection. Handling affairs in the Philippines is South Pacific Inter-Marketing Corp., Rm. 403B, FEA Bldg., Marquina corner Dasmariñas Sts., Binondo, Manila.

South Pacific’s SEC papers list its incorporators as: Fong Kwan Kong, a British with 9G work visa, 52 percent ownership; Fung Yiu Kin Sammy, a Chinese with temporary seven-day visa, 35 percent; Kwok Tin Wai, Chinese, 9G visa, five percent; Chan Yat Fai, Chinese, 9G visa, five percent; and Filipinos Shirley Yongco, Apolonio Lim and Nixon Edora, one percent each. The home address of the four foreign nationals is the same: Apt. Door 5, 791 Quirino Ave., Tambo, Parañaque City.

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Of the documents taken from the Hoi Wan crew by the arresting park rangers and those presented by Nixon Edora to authorities, Lory reports:

"On Sept. 5, 2006, Edora wrote Sultan Alykhan Madale, Maritime Industry Authority-ARMM regional deputy director, for permission to ‘establish business trading venture, particularly in fishing.’

"On Oct. 28 Madale issues a Special Certificate of Inspection to be done by Jul Asbi Baladji at MARINA-ARMM in Bonggao, Tawi-Tawi. Listing Edora and South Pacific as charterer, the paper specifies that the Hoi Wan was to have a crew of no more than 15 persons.

"On Oct. 30 Madale issues a special three-month permit for Edora and South Pacific to ‘operate/navigate water transportation service, exclusively for fishing purposes only within the territorial waters of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.’ In effect, the Hoi Wan is to carry fish only within the ARMM jurisdiction. It is not a fishing permit.

"That same day MARINA-ARMM grants Hoi Wan a Permanent Conversion of Vessel Trading Status from ‘overseas’ to ‘domestic’. The paper states the owner as Gamman, and again limits Hoi Wan’s area of operation to the waters of Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, with a standard warning of revocation in case of violation of Philippine merchant marine laws.

"They obtain all these papers before the Hoi Wan arrives in Bonggao.

"On Nov. 6 Hoi Wan shipping agent Arnold Catalan submits an Amendment of Notice of Arrival to Bonggao Customs collector Avelino Atong. He says bad weather would delay Hoi Wan’s arrival to Nov. 13, so that boarding formalities need rescheduling.

"Strange, MARINA-ARMM issues a Certificate of Inspection on Oct. 28 – eight days before the notice of delayed arrival and 16 days before the Hoi Wan is scheduled for official boarding in Bonggao. How then could it have been inspected?

"Stranger still, Hoi Wan obtains two port clearances from Customs. The first of two is issued Nov. 7 by Pirza Bulante, Bonggao port collector and boarding officer. This is an entry document, yet revealingly all the information it contains are about the Hoi Wan’s exit. Although it is given prior to Hoi Wan’s arrival, it lists Bonggao as the port of departure – with the date of Dec. 7, 2006. In this document, the number of crewmen is listed as 22 – a breach of the MARINA-ARMM limit of only 15. Hong Kong is listed as the ship’s next port of call. This deviates from the claim of Edora, after the Hoi Wan was apprehended in Palawan waters on Dec. 21, that it was en route to Manila to secure fisheries permits.

"On Nov. 13 a Bonggao-Immigration officer with illegible signature issues a Boarding Formalities Form. Date of arrival is stated as Nov. 14 – and yet this was issued on Nov. 13. Last port of call is Hong Kong, and next port of call is Sibutu. There were 22 crewmen on board – a violation.

"Still on Nov. 13 the sub-port of Bonggao issues a second Customs Port Clearance. So which is which? One new bit of information from this paper is that the Hoi Wan claims to have left Hong Kong on Oct. 27.

"Bonggao-Coast Guard officers Rodrigo Devero, Rodolfo Tagalan and Rafael Trangia sign a Boarding Certificate for the ship, but with no date or destination stated.

"On Nov. 23 Edora obtains a warranty from the office of Gov. Sadikul Sahali that he and (British) Fong Kwan Kong are ‘legitimate businessmen, presently operating in Tawi-Tawi, particularly in the buying and selling of fish products.’ This would later be misrepresented as a fishing or trading permit, which it is not.

"On Nov. 28 South Pacific obtains consent from Bonggao-Customs, signed by Dr. Abubakar Mohammad as port collector, for Hoi Wan to ‘load assorted marine products to any harbor limits (berth or anchorage) in Tawi-Tawi waters only.’ Once again, this is not a permit to fish or to trade in fish, but merely to load marine products.

"With the specific date irregularly left blank, a Quarantine Clearance for Outgoing Vessels is given by Burhan Jowak of the Quarantine Bureau in Bonggao. The first of several exit documents, it claims that Hoi Wan ‘complied with all quarantine rules, and is cleared to depart.’ It is simply dated November; all other exit documents state December.

"On Dec. 3 Hoi Wan obtains its Outward Foreign Manifest from Bonggao-Customs chief of port operations Nasser Lajarato. Once again it states the number of crewmen as 22, and the cargo vaguely as ‘assorted marine products’ weighing 3.45 metric tons worth P3,895,000. Significantly the date of this manifest is Dec. 3, while the date of departure on the clearance is Dec. 7. Edora later swore to the police that they left on Dec. 18.

"Dec. 7 is the date of departure Hoi Wan gives in its Manifest. Also on that day Mohammad issues an Export Declaration, co-signed by examiner Alcid Ratag, appraiser Pirza Bulante, and inspector Nasser Lajarato. Hong Kong is listed as destination.

"There are many Customs papers, but none from the Coast Guard to show that the Hoi Wan was inspected before departure. Neither is there any Immigration paper. With Hoi Wan declaring it was leaving for Hong Kong, why were these important exit requirements sidestepped?

"Did Hoi Wan leave for Hong Kong on Dec. 7? It did not. It sailed to Mapun, west of Bonggao.

"On Dec. 10, three days after leaving Bonggao, a Clearance to Proceed (to Mapun) was issued by Nur-Aisa Abubakar of the Mapun sub-port of MARINA-ARMM. This means it got a clearance to proceed only after it arrived. The Hoi Wan violates the Customs clearance to proceed to Hong Kong. The Mapun paper expands the original MARINA-ARMM limitations in allowing the ship to sail from "Mapun to any point of destination within the ARMM, or to any port within Philippine territories.’

"On Dec. 11 the Coast Guard, Mapun, issues a Vessel Boarding Report, signed by YN2 L.T. Curambao with EN3 F.F. Falcatan and SN1 R.J. Gumban as witnesses. It certifies the vessel fit to proceed to its next voyage. A separate SOLAS Report, also dated Dec. 11 and signed by Curambao, now lists only 15 crewmen. Was there falsification? This becomes more questionable since we know that 30 crewmen were aboard when the Hoi Wan was apprehended in Tubbataha ten days later.

"Edora presented Aquaculture Farm Registration Forms, all from Barangay Sheik Makdum, Sibutu, Tawi-Tawi. Collected by Hussain Saymaaran of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources-ARMM in Cotabato City, these forms were used by Edora as evidence that they purchased the fish from the fish farms. These were registrations, not licenses to trade. Not a single form mentions the species napoleon wrasse, 539 of which were found on the Hoi Wan."

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