Government seeks hold-departure order on Chinese poachers

The government asked a court in Puerto Princesa City yesterday to issue a hold departure order against the skipper and five crewmen of a Chinese vessel caught poaching in a marine reserve in Palawan three weeks ago.

Prosecutor Regidor Tulali said the order would ensure that Hoi Wan captain Huang Yaliu, and his six crewmen Liang Jianxing, Feng Guimei, Gong Zhili, Wei Chijia, and Xie Jiyu appear in court to face the charges of violating environmental laws filed against them.

"Considering that the above-named accused are not detained, they have the opportunity to flee and leave the country anytime to elude prosecution," read the government’s motion, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

"The sudden departure of these accused would stall the prosecution of these environmental cases and thus defeat the ends of environmental justice."

Executive Judge Perfecto Pe of the Puerto Princesa City Regional Trial Court allowed Huang and the six crewmen to each post a P30,000 bail and sent them back to their ship which is docked at Puerto Princesa Port.

Huang and his men were able to post bail before they were actually placed in the Palawan Provincial Jail.

The 24 other crewmen detained in the provincial jail might be released anytime soon after they posted the required bail over the weekend.

Angelique Songco, Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (TRNP) manager, said yesterday the Chinese fishermen have paid the bond, but that the jail warden "still had to clarify (some matters) with the court" before letting them go.

"Reports reaching us indicated that these Chinese nationals have initially asked the court to reduce their bail from P30,000 each to P20,000 each," she told The STAR.

"They really intend to get out of jail so they would really pay to get out of jail."

The crewmen might be sent back to the Hoi Wan today, she added.

The 30 Chinese fishermen were charged in court with various violations of different laws including the Fisheries Code, Wildlife Act, and National Integrated Protected Areas Systems Act.

Almost three weeks ago, Navy and TMO personnel caught the Chinese fishermen within the TRNP, a national marine protected area and World Heritage Site.

They were aboard a boat chartered by South Pacific Inter-marketing Corp. (SPIC), a Tawi-Tawi based live fish trading company.

The Chinese were spotted cruising the TRNP around 2 p.m. on Dec. 21.

As a standard operating procedure, TRNP rangers immediately stopped the boat and conducted a routine check of the vessel.

During inspection, authorities found the Chinese in possession of at least a thousand pieces of live fish, including Napoleon wrasse, an endangered species.

This prompted authorities to arrest the Chinese fishermen and hold their vessel.

Inventory

The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) had finished its inventory of the 13 fish tanks on Hoi Wan, and reported that a total of 2,313 live fish were found in the vessel.

Of the total number of live fish, 359 were Napoleon wrasses, which are locally known as Mameng, and 70 were Panthers, a fish that is also reportedly protected under an ordinance of the Palawan provincial government.

The Hoi Wan remains docked at the Puerto Princesa Port under the "beneficial custody" of the provincial government.

BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento has instructed their Puerto Princesa office to transfer Hoi Wan between the dock and the BFAR patrol vessel to make any escape impossible.

Lorenzo Tan, World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF) president, said the BFAR inventory of the live fish indicates that there seem to be more fish on board Hoi Wan than what the Chinese fishermen claim.

"Something is not right," he said. "Where did the additional fish come from?"

Meanwhile, Tan criticized the Facts of the Case submitted by Nixon Edora, SPIC operations manager, to the Western Visayas police, and subsequently forwarded to the Palawan provincial police.

The plan was for the fishing vessel to proceed to Manila to secure export permits and other necessary clearances from appropriate government agencies before sailing for Hong Kong, Tan said, quoting excerpts of the information submitted to authorities by the SPIC.

Tan said if the application for permits and clearances are denied, the cargo consisting of fish products would be sold in the domestic market.

"Ironically, this statement only provides information that further nails down the lid of this coffin," he said.

Tan said information provided by the SPIC only showed that the firm had admitted to buying and owning the fish without the necessary permits and has admitted to violations of the CITES Rules, Fisheries Code, and Wildlife Act.

"In spite of the fact that they admit that they acquired the illegal cargo without permits, they state in this declaration that they still intended to sell the fish in Manila — without permits," he said.

"This is an admission that if their first illegal plan did not work, they would resort to a second equally illegal alternative."

Tan said the SPIC claimed that the Hoi Wan was passing through the waters 11 nautical miles off the Tubbataha Reefs when the Chinese crewmen were fired at, stopped, apprehended, and consequently detained at the TRNP.

This claim of the SPIC has "an element of perjury," he added.

Tan said if the Hoi Wan were 11 nautical miles away from the Tubbataha Ranger Station, it could not have been physically spotted because 11 nautical miles is "beyond normal visual range, even with binoculars."