PCG may have violated rules of engagement in Balintang incident

From the Manila Bulletin (May 17): PCG may have violated rules of engagement in Balintang incident

They may have acted in self-defense when they tried to fend off at least two Taiwanese fishing vessels from sinking their ship but probers from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Friday said that there are signs that the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) may have violated their so-called rules of engagement.

An NBI insider, who refused to be named for the lack of authority to speak, said the bureau are now reviewing the provisions of the rules of engagement of the PCG as they collect the statements of the crew members of MCS-3001, a 35-meter vessel jointly manned by the Coast Guard and personnel from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

“But if you go through the report of the PCG, you'll immediately see signs na some particular provisions of the PCG's rules of engagement have been violated,” the source told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.

In its three-page, incident report obtained by the Manila Bulletin, the PCG manifested that the crew of MCS-3001 acted on self-defense when it sprayed bullets at fishing vessel Guang Ta Hsin-28, in a bid to disable its engine. Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-Cheng, however, was killed in the process.

The PCG claimed that the Taiwanese fishermen had refused to stop in their tracks while local sea authorities repeatedly fired warning shots in mid-air and blared their vessel’s horn at the foreigners.

But when the MCS-3001 vessel of PCG-BFAR was almost alongside one of the fishing boats, the PCG claimed that the engine of the Taiwanese vessel whirred to life, and the boat manuevered backward before speeding forward and it almost collided with the government ship’s stern.

The Philippine authorities fired another round of warning shots but the Taiwanese vessel refused to stop and engaged the PCG-BFAR in a high-speed chase. They said the Taiwanese vessel repeatedly tried to sink their ship, prompting them to fire their guns at the fishermen.

While chasing after Guang Ta Hsin, the PCG-BFAR spotted at least two, new unidentified boats – one white and one gray – and this prompted them to disengage from their chase and leave as they were already outnumbered.

The Manila Bulletin insider, however, found it unusual for authorities to use excessive gunfire if they indeed were just acting in self-defense.

Citing the rules of engagement of the PCG, the source pointed out that the Coast Guard personnel cannot fire warning shots to prevent the target vessel from escaping or to force the target vessel to comply with the instructions to stop and be boarded.

Instead, the source explained that personnel in charge of the unit afloat should employ other means necessary to force the target vessel to comply with their instructions. Warning shots are only fired prior to the direct firing at the hostile vessel/craft or its crew member, the source added.

In this case, the source noted many instances how the PCG members fired warning shots during the chase in an attempt of stopping the Taiwanese fishing vessel.

“Given that they acted on self-defense, is it justifiable to fire their weapons right away? What does the rules of engagement of PCG say?” the source asked.

The source said that the NBI is expected to submit the first part of its investigation next week.

So far, the NBI had yet to collect the testimonies of the MCS-3001 crew.

In a separate interview, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima confirmed that the NBI is set to wrap up the first part of its investigation and said the NBI plans to conduct the second phase of the investigation in Taiwan.

“Ang hindi na lang nagagawa ay yung pagpunta ng team sa Taiwan para mag-occular inspection sa fishing vessel. And hopefully talk to the survivors. Pero in so far as the evidence within the country patapos na yun (The only thing not done is for the team to go to Taiwan to visually inspect the fishing vessel. But as far as the evidence in our country it's almost done),” she said.

De Lima also revealed that Taiwan had formally submitted to Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) late Thursday night a formal request to launch a joint probe with Philippine authorities but she outrightly denied the request.

"We will be issuing a response to that request within the day. Pero gaya ng nasabi ko yesterday, we cannot agree to a joint investigation lalo na patapos na 'yung NBI (Like I said yesterday, we cannot agree on a joint investigation especially since the NBI is almost done)," De Lima said.

"But of course it doesn’t mean na totally na hindi magko-cooperate (Of course that doesn't mean that we won't cooperate)," she added.

What she will allow, according to De Lima, was for Taiwan to conduct a "parallel" investigation on the death of a Taiwanese fisherman accused of illegally fishing in disputed waters near Batanes.

De Lima used the August 2011 Manila Hostage Crisis as an example wherein Hongkong investigators were allowed by the Philippine government to conduct its own parallel probe.

She, however, reminded Taiwanese investigators who might be visiting the country that they cannot interrogate the personnel from the Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources who were embroiled in the shooting.

"I don’t think we can allow that. Ang NBI puwedeng magka-access [sa personnel]. At naka-access na nga. And they are now being questioned. But we can't just allow foreign investigators to question directly our own men. It’s a question of sovereignty. It’s a question of propriety," she said.

Meanwhile, the firearms that were in the possession of the Coast Guard and BFAR when the incident happened are already with the NBI for ballistics examination.

De Lima expressed hopes that the Philippines' ongoing investigation on the incident would help "ease the tension between the Philippines and Taiwan."

"Malaking bagay na may resulta... na magkakaroon ng resulta ang imbestigasyon. And makakasama diyan ang magiging recommendation kung mayroong dapat file-an ng kaso (It is a big thing to get results..to get results from the investigation. And along the results are recommendations if there are charges to be filed)."

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