The Department of Justice (DOJ) dismissed the idea of consolidating the results of parallel investigations conducted by Manila and Taipei over the May 9 shooting incident involving members of the Philippine Coast Guard and allegedly illegal Taiwanese fishers along the vicinity off Balintang Channel in Batanes.
Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said the Philippines will protect the independence of its own investigation currently being done by the National Bureau of Investigation and reminded the Taiwanese government that it can’t compel them from adapting and implementing the results of the investigations as well as the recommendations made by Taipei Criminal Investigation Bureau on the shooting incident which led to the death of 65-year old fisherman Hung Shih-cheng.
“While both sides can sit down and discuss their findings, it is understood that neither can impose on the other its own conclusions. That’s the essence of parallel probes as against a joint probe”, de Lima said in a text message to reporters.
De Lima responded to Che Wen-chen, the Taiwan’s International Cross-Straits Legal Affairs director for his statement on Tuesday that Taipei will insist on the criminal liabilities of Philippine Coast Guard officers and personnel involved in the martime incident in Balintang Channel.
In his statement, Wen-chen said the Taiwanese Government expects no major difference in the findings because the probers from both sides were looking at the same evidence.
But the DOJ chief believes that the parallel investigation being conducted by Philippine and Taiwanese authorities on the Balintang Channel incident could yield different outcomes and also added that it will be up to the public to determine which finding is more credible in the end.
“The conclusions of both teams may be exactly the same, or the same in certain respects but different in other aspects, or entirely different, depending on each team’s assessment or appreciation of the over-all facts and evidence”, De Lima explained.
Investigators from Manila and Taipei started the parallel investigation last May 27 to probe the May 9 shooting incident by PCG personnel aboard the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) monitoring, control and surveillance vessel MCS-3001 that resulted in the death of one of the crew members of F/V Guang Ta-shin 28 and soured relations between the Philippines and Taiwan.
According to the Justice chief, the parallel investigation being done right shows the spirit of cooperation between the two nations [Philippine and Taiwan authorities] which can contribute to a certain level that lately will bring back and restore the “normalcy of the Philippine-Taiwan relations.”
De Lima also expressed hope that the mutual visit by the Manila and Taipei-based investigators will “put closure to the factual issues surrounding the incident.”
The Taiwanese investigating team is composed of Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau–International Affairs Division chief Simon Lee, Investigating Prosecutors Yen-Liang Lin, Chia-Kai Lin, Shih-Che Tseng, and Hung-Jui Chang; forensic expert Jia-Jinn Lee; firearms and ballistics specialist Jing-Wei Lee; and technician Guh-Tyng Lin.
Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) representative Andrew Lin said that the video which was shown to them will definitely help them in the on-going parallel probe. The Taiwanese investigators have also finished their ballistics test and test-firing the weapons for cross-matching.
NBI-Deputy Director for Regional Operations Services Mendez said the slugs and shells will be matched with those recovered from the Taiwanese vessel to determine if the firearms turned over by the Coast Guard to NBI are the same weapons used in the May 9 incident.
Also, the Taiwan investigators checked the MCS-3001 which hit the slain suspected Taiwanese fishing vessel and also interviewed the 17 PCG personnel and two BFAR agents that lasted up to 10 p.m. of Wednesday.
Commander Armando Balilo, Coast Guard public affairs chief said that PCG and BFAR operatives were allowed by their respective lawyers to give their statements to Taiwanese investigation. He said that the Taiwanese investigators might conduct another inspection of the said surveillance vessel by Friday depending on the result of their interrogation on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the NBI investigators who flew to Kaohsiung to inspect F/V Guang Ta-shin 28 found 40 bullet holes from the fishing vessels during the encounter with the 30-meter maritime surveillance ship.
The Philippine delegation is tasked with determining whether the Coast Guard used excessive force during the incident and whether the Taiwanese vessel tried to ram the Philippine patrol boat as alleged.–JC Cahinhinan
