Philippine officials on Monday hinted at a possible cooperation of sorts between Philippine and Taiwanese investigators looking into an encounter in disputed waters where a Taiwanese fisherman was shot dead last May 9.
Manila Economic and Cultural Office head Amadeo Perez Jr. said he was contacted Sunday by Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin on a possible cooperation in the investigation, but declined to comment further.
But Justice Secretary Leila de Lima still ruled out a joint investigation, although she said she is open to a sharing of information.
"Kahapon tumawag sa akin ang Minister ng Foreign Affairs, si David Lin. May mga sinabi sa akin. Pinaabot ko sa nakakataas sa atin. 'Yan lang ang masasabi ko. Hindi ako makapagsalita diyan at masyadong delikado ang issue na 'yan," Perez said in an interview on dzBB radio.
When asked if the tone of the talks was positive, he said, "Siguro. Ganoon ang sagot ko, siguro po."
In a separate interview on dzBB, de Lima said a joint investigation between the Philippines and Taiwan is still out of the question, unless she is overridden by higher-ups.
"Hindi advisable magkaroon ng joint probe. Masalimuot na usapin 'yan because it touches on issues of sovereignty. May foreign entity na pakikialaman tayo sa ating investigation kasi may sarili tayong justice system," she said.
"Out of the question unless I'm overruled by a higher authority. Sa level ko hindi kami papayag ng joint probe," she added.
"Kung parehong nagko-conduct ng investigation, at some point, pwede mag-share ng findings," she said.
She also said there is no problem with a Taiwanese team "observing" the Philippine investigation, although she said the probe is near completion.
But she said the Philippines wants to convince Taiwanese authorities to allow the National Bureau of Investigation to inspect the Taiwanese fishing boat fired at in the May 9 incident.
Taipei claims consensus on 'parallel' probe
On Sunday, Taiwan claimed to have reached a consensus with the Philippines on a possible parallel investigation of the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman last May 9.
Foreign Affairs Minister David Lin claimed both sides will soon work out how to proceed with the matter, according to a report on Taipei Times on Monday.
“With the consensus, both sides will determine an agenda and items of cooperation for their investigations on the principle of reciprocity to facilitate the uncovering of the truth and subsequent punishment of those responsible,” Lin said.
Lin said both sides agreed to arrange for the other side to hold fact-finding trips, and showed willingness to cooperate with each other in their individual investigations.
Investigators from both sides will hold a “parallel investigation” instead of a “joint investigation,” he added.
Killed in the encounter was Hung Shih-cheng, 65. His death prompted Taiwan to freeze the hiring of Filipino workers and issue a travel alert discouraging travel to the Philippines.
The Taipei Times report quoted the foreign ministry as saying both sides will allow prosecutors from the other side to “interrogate witnesses” and look into evidence.
It added Taiwan will send a delegation to the Philippines once both sides finalize details on how to cooperate with their investigations.
But as this developed, Taiwan's justice ministry publicized "evidence" that it claimed showed the death of Hung was intentional.
Its supposed evidence included a bullet recovered from the boat with Hung’s blood on it, photos showing fatal bullet wounds on Hung’s neck, and photos of the bullet holes on the fishing vessel.
The ministry claimed the recorder’s data shows the boat was within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone when the encounter occurred.
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