Marine park manager Angelique Songco of the Tubbataha Management Office (TMO) said the 24 Chinese fishermen who were detained at the Palawan Provincial Jail were able to post bail last weekend and were released on Tuesday afternoon.
On Jan. 1, the captain of the Chinese vessel Hoi Wan and five other fishermen managed to post bail of P30,000 each and were released by the authorities even before they were actually put behind bars.
The Chinese fishermen were charged with violation of Sections 87, 97 and 100 of the Republic Act No. 8550, or Philippine Fisheries Code on poaching, taking of rare and endangered species and the exportation of live fish.
They were also charged with violation of Section 27 of the Republic Act No. 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, on the possession of wildlife; and Section 20 of the Republic Act No. 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System.
As this developed, Songco said that the TMO is now pressing for the immediate issuance of a hold-departure order against all the 30 Chinese nationals to prevent them from leaving Palawan and compel them to face the charges in court.
"We are seeking the help of our local officials here (Palawan) in order to facilitate the immediate issuance of the hold-departure order against these Chinese," Songco told The STAR. "We will be asking the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to help us on this. The hold-departure order is the only way to make sure that these Chinese nationals would not be able to leave and elude the charges."
Songco also said that the Chinese nationals are now billeted at an apartment leased by South Pacific Inter-marketing Corp. (SPIC) in Puerto Princesa City.
The SPIC has admitted to chartering the Hoi Wan for the transport of the confiscated live fish to Hong Kong.
Lorenzo Tan, president of the World Wide Fund for Nature-Philippines (WWF), said that the hearing for a hold-departure order was set for next week.
Tan said the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Palawan has said that, in the meantime, it cannot issue a hold-departure order without a court order "because the Chinese travel papers are in order."
The government, through Prosecutor Regidor Tulali, filed a motion for the issuance of a hold-departure order against the Chinese fishermen.
"The fear in Puerto Princesa is that there may be a plan for them to jump bail and leave on a flight out of Puerto (Princesa at any time)," Tan said. "We are checking with the airlines constantly to prevent this. Our front-line teams are really on edge."
Tan said Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes will be signing a letter addressed to the BI, asking for the issuance of a hold-departure order.
"Top-flight lawyers from Manila, led by environmental lawyer Tony Oposa Jr. are meeting with members of the Palawan Team this week to discuss legal strategy," Tan added.
He also said "we have obtained pledges of support in kind from Lance Gokongwei of Cebu Pacific and Ivan Lim of Dos Palmas for this legal support group, if and when they need to go to Puerto Princesa to help see this case through to fruition."
Songco said the live fish, mostly various types of snapper (Lutjanus sp.) and grouper (Epinephalus sp.), were released into the sea outside the Palawan Bay.
The 300 surviving Napoleon wrasse, locally known as Mameng, were released temporarily into the Santa Lucia sea pens of the BFAR near Puerto Princesa City.
Tan said the BFAR has committed to providing food needed to help the fish back to good health.
The live fish began ailing after they were contained in the Chinese vessel’s dim holding tanks, according to environment and conservation advocates.
Of the 359 Napoleon wrasse inventoried in the hold of the Hoi Wan, 59 died over the weekend, while a number of Lapu-Lapu (grouper) also died, purportedly due to starvation.
"As of now, it has been suggested that we schedule the release of the Napoleon wrasse in Tubbataha around the end of March, when ocean conditions should be better. It is at this time that the mooring buoys for live fish aboard dive boats are installed prior to the beginning of the 2007 dive season," Tan said.
The private sector insisted that all the live Napoleon wrasse contained in the fish tanks of the Hoi Wan should be released at Tubbataha Reefs and not in Honda Bay as some parties have suggested.
BFAR Director Malcolm Sarmiento has agreed, noting that since the Mameng are an endangered species, they should be released in the nearest marine reserve, which is Tubbataha.
In making the appeal, Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra said the prosecution of the poachers should be pursued "without diplomatic meddling to send the signal to the region that the country is implementing a zero-tolerance policy against poaching."
"The usual diplomatic fix to legal cases against aliens caught fishing in local waters only emboldens poachers from all nationalities to do their thing here with impunity," he said.
He said the conviction and imprisonment of the Chinese poachers caught in the Tubbataha marine reserve would serve as "a deterrent to incursions by foreign fishers into our fishing grounds."
There are reports that China’s diplomats are employing pressure on local authorities for the release of their nationals who were caught in the Tubbataha area last Dec. 21. The United Nations has declared the Tubbataha Reef as a World Heritage Site.
In the past, authorities freed Chinese poachers upon the intercession of their government and upon the payment of small fines.
That policy should stop, Mitra said, because it only encourages foreigners to fish in Philippine waters.
"The country is, in effect, putting up a welcome sign to poachers if it releases these violators for diplomatic considerations," he added. "The result is that the fear factor is gone. That’s probably why China and other countries are now treating our waters as their own fishpond."
With a growing population, the Philippines should fiercely guard its seas "because it is where it gets its food now and in the future," he said.
Mitra deplored the propensity of some national officials to view the detention of a few sampans as a "threat to RP-China relations."
He cited several instances in the past when Chinese poachers were even given kid-glove treatment.
In June last year, a 300-ton Chinese vessel loaded with three six-foot whales and 26 green turtles was caught in Southern Palawan. It was later released.
In January 2002, four Chinese fishing vessels from Hainan province were apprehended in Northern Palawan. A few months later, the boats were released after their owners paid small fines.
In July 1999, a Chinese vessel was released after paying a P100,000 fine.
Mitra said the acceptance of fines by local authorities in exchange for the freedom of poachers is sending the wrong message to foreigners who want to intrude into Philippine waters.
He also said officials should not put a price on the preservation of the country’s marine resources.
On Tuesday, a senior official of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said representations made by the Chinese embassy to secure the release of the fishermen arrested at the Tubbataha Reef failed.
The official said the Philippine government stood pat on its decision not to intervene in the case and maintained that only the court could order the suspected poachers’ release.
Embassy officials had expressed their desire to find ways to resolve the matter in a note verbale transmitted to the DFA on Dec. 24.
The DFA official added that the arrest and detention of the fishermen in Palawan is unlikely to be raised during the visit of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao next week.
As a UNESCO member, the official said China is duty-bound to protect the Tubbataha Reef as a world heritage site and that Tubbataha is protected by Philippine environmental laws and international conventions.
The DFA emphasized in its reply to the embassy’s note verbale that only the courts would decide on the fate of the fishermen. - Jess Diaz and Pia Lee-Brago