Taiwanese probers, NBI team finish parallel work on May 9 shooting

From InterAksyon (May 31): Taiwanese probers, NBI team finish parallel work on May 9 shooting

A six-man team of Taiwanese investigators flew back home Friday morning, wrapping up four days of work almost at the same time as an NBI team doing a parallel inquiry in Taipei into the May 9 fatal shooting of a fisherman off Batanese coast.

The investigators said they were generally satisfied with the cooperation extended by the National Bureau of Investigation, which helped them interview members of the Philippine Coast Guard and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and view the official video of the incident from the BFAR boat.

The 8-man NBI team, meanwhile, is expected to be back in Manila later Friday.

Atty. Virgilio Mendez, deputy director of NBI, said in radio interviews Friday that more work needs to be done, particularly, to evaluate “the evidence we have gathered,” but added the work isnt’ so much.

Mendez said the NBI probers in Taiwan received cooperation from authorities there.

The NBI men were allowed to examine the vessel, determine the trajectory of bullets from the volley of gunfire unleashed by the PCG team when, they alleged, the Taiwanese fishing boat repeatedly tried to ram their vessel to prevent their boarding the fishing boat suspected of illegal fishing. The NBI also examined slugs retrieved by the Taiwanese from the fishing boat that was towed back to Taiwan, for “comparison with the slugs we extracted from guns turned over to NBI by PCG,” explained Atty. Mendez.

There is yet no formal report from the NBI team which is flying in late Friday, he said.
Mendez acknowledged the possibility there will be differences in the parallel reports of the Taiwanese and Filipino probers, especially on the location of incident---was it within Philippine or Taiwanese waters?

He declined to confirm if the NBI investigation showed it indeed happened in Philippine territory. He wanted to avoid a premature disclosure, saying location is a vital aspect of the investigation.

“We also want to see everything, evaluate everything we have, since we’ve advanced well into this inquiry.” In case of a variance in parallel reports of Taipei and Manila, Mendez doesn’t see a need “to reconcile our findings, since the point of the exercise” was for both sides to do their exhaustive fact-finding and come up with reasonable conclusions into what really happened on Balintang Channel last May 9.

MECO chief: Tensions eased, but precautions taken

Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) chairman Amadeo Perez said the situation in Taiwan has eased considerably, and it’s been 13 days since they last received any spot report of tense encounters involving Filipino workers. Still, they advised OFWs to be careful and avoid unnecessary trips outside their homes or work sites.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/62989/taiwanese-probers-nbi-team-finish-parallel-work-on-may-9-shooting