More Taiwan probers on Hung slay coming

From the Daily Tribune (May 27): More Taiwan probers on Hung slay coming

TEAM AWAITING RP GOV’T CONSENT

 Taiwan is sending a fresh team to look into the death of fisherman Hung Shih-cheng in the hands of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) unit chasing a fishing boat bearing him and other Taiwanese after the vessel supposedly entered Philippine territory.

The Taiwanese delegation is merely waiting for the consent from the government for judicial assistance for the probe they plan to conduct on PCG personnel who shot dead Hung earlier this month, an official of Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said.

Deputy Minister of Justice Chen Ming-tang said the MoJ expects to receive a formal written consent for the Taiwanese delegation, comprised mainly of prosecutors from the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office.

Chen said once the consent is issued, the team would travel to Manila at once. A Philippine investigation team is also visiting Taiwan, Chen said.

Taipei and Manila have both requested judicial assistance in the probe of the May 9 shooting incident that resulted in the death of 65-year-old Hung and triggered a diplomatic spat between both countries.

Taiwan initially sent a delegation of prosecutors and judicial officials to Manila last May 16 but immediately went back to Taipei two days later after local officials rejected a joint investigation into the case despite an earlier promise.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said later that a “parallel investigation” will be held instead of a joint probe while each side is expected to help each other in the process in line with a bilateral agreement on judicial assistance signed last month.

Taiwan said it had made 10 requests, including asking for access to a video recording of the attack by the Philippine Coast Guard personnel, while the government has issued 11 requests to help the inquiry into the shooting.

The government earlier agreed to allow Taiwanese forensic experts to board the PCG patrol ship to determine if the bullets gathered from the Taiwanese fishing boat and the body of Hung were fired from its guns.

Taiwanese investigators can also question PCG personnel involved in the shooting, but if they decline to respond, the National Bureau of Investigation will provide testimony collected by the bureau’s staff.

Taiwanese investigators are also asking that the government allow the viewing of a video of the shooting recorded by the Philippines vessel that mounted the attack.

De Lima said the team from the NBI is ready to fly to Taiwan “any time once all the needed arrangements have been made” with Taipei.

A PCG spokesman dismissed a report about an initial finding pointing to negligence on the part of PCG personnel in the May 9 fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman.

PCG spokesman Arman Balilo said the supposed findings were mere speculation.

“We would wait for the official findings of the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation). We would wait for the NBI report because we have to see first what were the circumstances they alluded to in the report and what were the bases used by the NBI,” Balilo said.

The NBI has wrapped up its investigation about the shooting on the Philippine side and investigators are ready to depart for Taiwan for further work once they receive visas from Taiwan’s representative office in the Southeast Asian country, local officials said.

Former Senator Richard Gordon, meanwhile, criticized the Aquino administration’s weak responses to issues involving Philippine foreign relations, the latest of which is its limp-wristed reaction to Taiwan’s refusal to accept the government’s apology and the shabby treatment received by Manila Economic and Cultural Office Chairman Amadeo Perez.

Gordon underscored the government’s lame reaction to issues such as furor that arose from the shooting of the Taiwanese fisherman, the Spratlys and Sabah claim gives the impression that the Philippines is a push over which is very demeaning for Filipinos.

“The government must be firm, resolute and must not appear to be weak. Our government must not continue to exhibit the same kind of weakness as shown in our reaction during the Hong Kong hostage crisis in Manila, the Spratlys/Scarborough shoals issue and the killings of our people in Sabah,” the former senator said.

“I am also disappointed in the reaction of this administration to the bullying of Taiwan - limp wristed reaction to Taiwan’s refusal to receive the MECO chairman who went to Taipei to apologize as the President’s personal representative and the shabby treatment he received. Our president has extended his apologies to the family of the person killed - and yet the Taiwanese refused to accept such an apology and added insult by threatening to stop taking workers from the Philippines,” he added.

Gordon pointed out that the government should review the rules of engagement in such matters and ensure that the Armed Forces of the Philippines is well-verses with the rules of engagement so that it could take a stronger position when such issues arise.

“Obviously, other governments think the Philippines is a push over because of our government’s lame reaction to similar issues, which is demeaning to our nation. I cannot keep quiet as we see continuous string of humiliating events. Finally, our government must provide our Armed Forces and law enforcement authorities on rules of engagement in cases involving our territorial waters,” he added.

Gordon also pressed the need for the modernization of the AFP and to improve its capability in protecting the country and its territory.

“The government should immediately ensure that the budget for our Armed Forces and our Coast Guard be strongly increased to ensure credible capability to protect our people and what is ours. Our national security and our national dignity demands so,” he stressed.

Last May 9, Philippine authorities reportedly tried stopping a group of Taiwanese fishermen from allegedly poaching in Philippine waters off the coast of Balintang Island near the Batanes Group of Islands which led to the death of 65-year old Taiwanese fisherman, Hung Shih-cheng.

Hung’s death caused a public uproar in Taiwan, with its government demanding an apology and compensation from the Philippine government.

Reports said Taiwan froze the hiring of Filipino workers and recalled its envoy to Manila in protest over the killing as it rejected an apology that Perez conveyed from President Aquino and the Filipino people as inadequate and insincere because it wanted a government-to-government apology.

MECO is the Philippines’ representative of?ce in Taiwan in the absence of of?cial bilateral ties.

The Philippines, like most countries, formally recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, but maintains trade and tourism ties with Taiwan. 
http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/14603-more-taiwan-probers-on-hung-slay-coming