Madrigal, 8 fish wardens cry over ‘harassment suit’

CEBU, Philippines - Former Capitol security chief Loy Anthony Madrigal and eight deputized fishery wardens are seeking for the dismissal of the criminal complaints filed by two commercial fishing boat captains against them before the provincial prosecutor’s office.

Madrigal and the other respondents are claiming that the complaints filed by Rogelio Forrosuelo and Donato Villaceran were plain and simple harassment.

 Forrosuelo and Villaceran accused Madrigal, Rommel Lisaran, Oscar Conje, Bobby Monterde, Onel Anislagon, Danilo Rosales, Junior Micarsos, Titing Rubio, and Servidio Panares of violating Presidential Decree 532 or the Anti-Piracy and Anti-Highway Robbery Law of 1974, and Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code, as amended, or kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

The respondents invoked Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) as ground in seeking for the dismissal of the complaints.

SLAPP refers to an action whether civil, criminal, or administrative, brought against any person, institution or any government agency or local government unit or its officials and employees, with the intent to harass, vex, exert undue pressure or stifle any legal recourse that such person, institution or government agency has taken or may take in the enforcement of environmental laws, protection of the environmental or assertion of environmental rights.

The complainants were among the 40 people intercepted by the respondents on board A.C. and JSV commercial fishing boats allegedly fishing within the municipal waters of Santa Fe town in Bantayan Island.

“As members of their respective Bantay Dagat Task Force, they are in the front line of the apprehension of persons conducting illegal fishing activities and/or violating environmental laws. This is their mandate and passion. And it is this mandate that urged and prompted them to apprehend herein complainants and their crew who were caught in flagrante delicto conducting illegal fishing activities within the municipal waters,” read the 18-page motion to dismiss.

 “Complainants’ charges of piracy are preposterous. The complainants’ charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code are also clearly SLAPP suits aimed at harassing and intimidating respondents,” the motion added.

Six of the nine respondents were not part of the joint sea born patrol of Bantay Dagat members from San Remigio and Daanbantayan but ended up being included in the complaints.

The fish wardens are also members of Migo sa Iho (Visayan for Friend of Sharks) a group of local fishermen tasked to protect Monad Shoal and its surrounding waters.

 “This is simple harassment to intimidate and is meant to scare them off. Wala sila’y sala kundi ang pag-protehir sa ilang dagat ug ilang panginabuhian,” said the respondents’ lawyer Mary Joan Dulhao during the press conference.

The fishermen who were also present during the press conference cried foul over their involvement in the case.

Aside from the inclusion of six fishermen, Dulhao said the apprehended men committed three violations of the Fisheries Code, such as using prohibited Danish seine method of fishing or “hulbot-hulbot”; using commercial fishing vessels to fish within the municipal waters; using methods and gear destructive to coral reefs and other marine habitat; and catching of juvenile white tip shark in violation of the Cebu Provincial Ordinance No. 2012-05 (The Provincial Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Ordinance of Cebu), declaring all shark species as protected making it unlawful to catch, possess, transport, sell any of their species.

 Dulhao said that residents and officials of Barangay Kinatarcan, Sta. Fe  witnessed how the illegal operations started since 8 a.m. of August 26 until the time they were intercepted at around 11:00 or 12:00 noon.  A.C. and JSV vessels were reportedly fishing 2.6 nautical miles and 8.01 nautical miles off the island, respectively, as shown in their GPS.  (FREEMAN)