PH: Video of shooting ‘revealing and helpful’

MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said on Tuesday, May 21, that a video clip of the shooting incident involving the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and a Taiwanese fishing vessel was “very revealing” and “helpful to the investigation.”

De lima said the video, as part of the report of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), will be released “in due time.”

“There will be premature conclusions if we release the video already. It’s just part of the whole report,” De Lima said.

De Lima also disclosed that the partial report of the Philippine investigation team has been “substantive.” She added that the NBI team has just been waiting for clearance to go to Taiwan and request the fisherman’s family for a re-autopsy of the body.

“More or less, there’s a clearer picture. But we reiterate that the result would be more exhaustive, thorough and complete if the NBI team’s requests are granted, especially the inspection of the Taiwanese fishing vessel,” she said.

Earlier, the Philippine Coast Guard said the Taiwanese fishing vessel had intruded into Philippine waters and tried to ram its patrol boat.

‘No intrusion’

But Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency released information on Tuesday, May 21, that the Taiwanese vessel’s position and movement throughout its voyage disprove claims that the fishing boat intruded into Philippines’ territorial waters.

The voyage data recorder (VDR), which was “kept operational all along the voyage” showed that the boat was operating within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone and had never entered the territorial waters of the Philippines.

Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Tsay Tzu-yaw said that the ship arrived at 20° N latitude and 123° E longitude at 2:30am on May 7 and was operating in the area between 19°50′ – 20°10′ N latitude, and between 122° 48′ – 123° 25′ E longitude until 8:24am on May 9. These are all within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, he said.

From midnight on May 9 to 6:18am that day, the ship was sailing west by south at a speed of between 3 knots and 8 knots (5.6kph and 14.8kph) before it arrived at 19° 57′ N latitude, 122° 48′ E longitude, where it sailed at a lower speed of between 0 knots and 1 knot.

Tsay said the data showed that the ship sailed at a speed of between 4 knots and 5 knots in an east-south-east direction at 8:24am on May 9, while its speed increased to 10 knots at 10:12am, when its location was measured at 19° 59′ N latitude, 122° 55′ E longitude, “presumably being chased” by the Philippine vessel. These data show the vessel was still within Taiwan’s territorial waters.

Tsay added the ship lost power at 11:24am at 20° 7′ N, 123° E, when the data showed its speed measured at zero.

“Analysis of the information has shown that it contained no disruption to data recording during the voyage, meaning that that the VDR system was operational,” Tsay said.

Tsay also said that the claims of the Philippines that its coast guard personnel were carrying out their duty to stop illegal fishing were “defamatory,” adding that the Philippines has not shown any evidence yet to bolster this. – Rappler.com