RP, Taiwan to step up sea border security cooperation

Taiwan and the Philippines have agreed to step up sea border security cooperation after an alleged Taiwanese poacher was shot dead earlier this year, Filipino officials said yesterday.

Filipino police chief Arturo Lomibao flew to Taipei last week and met with his Taiwanese counterparts to discuss border issues after a violent confrontation between his men and the crew of a Taiwan-flagged fishing boat off the northern Philippines.

"My trip to Taiwan was on the invitation of the representative of the Taiwan (cultural office)," Lomibao told the Foreign Correspondents Association.

The talks covered the shooting incident and the possibility of "our sharing information in the campaign against drugs," Lomibao said.

Marcelo Ele, head of a police task force against drug smuggling said the incident with the alleged smuggler happened when his fishing vessel tried to ram a Filipino police boat that was attempting to drive it away from a protected area.

He said the clash, in which the Taiwanese skipper was killed, showed how poaching and the smuggling of drugs and migrants were getting out of hand in the Philippines-Taiwan sea border.

The issue is complicated by the absence of formal diplomatic ties between the neighbors. Manila only recognizes Beijing.

Ele said that the countries now wanted such activities "minimized or put to a stop before it grows into unimaginable proportions." — AFP