By Ellen Tordesillas. VERA Files
By Ellen Tordesillas,VERA Files
Philippine Representative in Taiwan Antonio Basilio said Sunday his apology to the family of the fisherman who was killed Thursday by a member of the Philippine Coast Guard in an incident in the disputed waters off Northern Philippines is not the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan.
In an interview, Basilio, resident Representative of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, said together with Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lin, he visited Saturday the family of Hung Shih-cheng, the 65-year-old Taiwanese fisherman who was killed after a Coast Guard personnel fired upon the fishing boat Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 in waters both claimed by the Philippines and Taiwan as part of their 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zones.
Asked if his apology can be considered the Aquino government’s apology to Taiwan, Basilio replied, “The apology was to the family. It’s different from the Philippine government apology to the Taiwan government. “
Basilio said the the government’s formal apology being demanded by Taiwan will be decided after the investigation is completed which is expected within this week.
Taiwan media reported that the office of President Ma Ying-jeo issued a 72-hour ultimatum to the Aquino government “to arrest those responsible for the death of a Taiwanese fisherman, issue a formal apology and compensate the victim’s family.”
If the Aquino government Manila fails to respond to their demands within 72 hours, which commenced “12 a.m. on May 12,” Taiwan will freeze Philippine worker applications, recall its representative in Manila and ask the Philippine representative to return to Manila to help in the investigation, reports said.
Basilio said, “we will try to reasonably comply” with Taiwan’s demands . He said both the Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to cooperate in each other’s investigations.
Earlier in the day, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail F. Valte said, “The investigation has commenced with the arrival of the commander of MCS 3001 and that he, together with the crew, have been relieved of their duties.”
“The Philippine Coast Guard, together with other agencies, assures everyone that this investigation will be conducted in an impartial, transparent and expeditious manner, “ she said.
Last Friday, Philippine Coast Guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo said, “If somebody died, they (the family) deserve our sympathy but not an apology.”
“The Philippine government’s attitude is outrageous and unacceptable,” Taipei Times quoted Ma as having said.
It also said Ma has come under pressure from the public and lawmakers across party lines to take a tougher stand on the incident.
Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin Hau said the Taipei city government would retract its invitation to the Philippines to attend the Dragon Boat Festival next month.
Hua also said Taipei will suspend all exchanges with Manila and Quezon City — both sister cities of Taipei — as well as the city government’s plan to donate two ambulances to the Philippines.
Despite the absence of official diplomatic ties due to the Philippines’ one-China policy, economic relations with Taiwan remains robust. About 83,000 Filipinos work in Taiwan. Bilateral trade between Taiwan and the Philippines amounted to $6.17 billion in 2011 with Taiwan as the country’s sixth top trading partner.
Taiwan and the Philippines are both claimants to islands in the Spratlys in the South China Sea ( referred to by the Philippines as West Philippine Sea) together with China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei.
VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)
Akala siguro ng mga Taiwanese hindi sila puputokan ng PCG. I bet you the 4 Taiwanese boats were toying with the PCG. Buti nalang matigas yung capitan.
Sa Pinas ang property siempre kung may trespassers di papuputukan. Idepensa ang atin para hindi tayo i-bully ng mga bansa na akala sobra tayong weak.
Captain, okay ka!
The shooting happened within the 200 miles economic zones which both countries have an “overlapping” claims, so the ownership of property is not anyone’s…only the 12 miles zone is recognized as part of the country’s Territory…which anyone tresspassing is subject to the right of attack by the sovereign..
Whatever they say, they violated our laws and entered ilegaly in our territory. there will be repercussion/s to this incident, but I just like to reiterate let’s not be bullied by anyone, big or small countries. The Philippines had been bullied for the longest time and it’s about time to show and tell them enough is enough.
Dealing with those chingky-eyed neighbors of ours up north is not going work, diplomacy has already failed. We agreed on many things and yet they ignore those agreement.
There will be repercussions from them, that is the bitter thing, but if we can show them our resolve, they will stop and think first.
Enough is enough
Prans
vic, according to the coast guard, this happened 80km off of Balintang Channel.
this area is between Batanes Province to the north, Babuyan Islands to the south, the Luzon Strait is on the west and Balintang Island to the east.
i wonder how exactly it became part of “overlapping” claims unless the incident happened outside of Bashi Channel or West Philippine Sea or heck, the Pacific Ocean.
Begging to differ. There is no right to gun down a trespasser, even in the Philippines.
Imagine the US Border Patrol gunning down all who cross the US-Mexico border. May cliente kaming Pinoy who did that – tumawid. Okay ba, if we are on the receiving end?
Ang problema, puro tayo porma, aatras din pala.
manilastandardtoday.com/2013/05/16/taipei-rejects-apology/
Binundol daw ang barko natin. Dahil lang diyan, mamamaril? Weren’t we all incensed when some driver pulled a gun on the MMDA traffic police, dahil daw tinapik ng kamay ang kotse niya?
Good comparison with the Carabuena incident.
“i wonder how exactly it became part of “overlapping” claims unless the incident happened outside of Bashi Channel or West Philippine Sea or heck, the Pacific Ocean.” -Vic
The incident happened 43 nautical miles off Balintang Channel which is 170 nautical miles southeast of Taiwan.
EEZ is 200 nautical miles from the shores of a coastal state. The area is nearer the Philippines but it is still within Taiwan’s 200 nautical miles EEZ.
The BFAR Coast Guard ship is three times bigger in size than the Taiwanese fishing boat.
Taiwan claims the boast sustained 59 -fifty nine! – bullet holes. Ano yun, nag ratatatat????
Okey lang yan. Gusto lang sampolan ng Navy o Coast Guard na di sila pwedeng tapak-tapakan. Paparating ang isang fishing flotilla of at least 30 ships galing sa China papuntang Scarborough. Yung mga mayabang na mangingisda magdadalawang isip ngayon bago magpagamit sa gobyerno nila bago sumama diyan.
I’ve read that the encounter happened at E123° N20°. Type those coordinates into the search bar in Google Earth and you will see that the Taiwanese ships were trespassing “indisputable” (let me borrow that term) Phil. Territory.
We are allowed to shoot intruders if they enter our gates aren’t we?
Sai, the Fishermen were fishing within the 200 nauticals eez of Taiwan and also within the 200 eez of the Phl…that is overlapping with each other…and there were no published banned on fishing or moratariom by an international community that any country within the eez many enforce, but even the International Force can not even shoot down the Somalian Pirates in International waters in the indian ocean as long as the Pirates not shooting at them…and the Taiwanese not shooting at the Phl Coast guard…it was different when the Canadian Coast Guard fired a four Round machine gun burst at the Spanish Fishing Trawler Estai because the Trawler keep ignoring repeated warning to stop fishing in a No Fishing Zone which was under fishing moratorium due to deflated stock and it is within the Canadian eez…and the shot was Accross the ship bows not hitting the ship and the Crew were flown home, the next day, except the ship was impounded. And that was after a 3- hour chase. The fleet were also caught using undersize nets.
Vic, what you described is what the UNCLOS laid down in case of “intrusion.”
This is what lawyer Harry Roque said in his article posted above: “Furthermore, there too appears to be a breach of international law since the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea prohibits the use of unnecessary use of force in dealing with illegal fishermen. In fact, the UNCLOS provides that fishermen caught illegally fishing in a states exclusive economic zone should not even be detained or charged criminally The only leeway granted to a party state is to apprehend the vessel which, in turn, must be immediately release upon posting of bond.”