Gov’t to oppose Chinese poachers’ petition for review

Government agencies that filed charges against the 30 Chinese nationals caught in the Tubbataha Reefs National Park (TRNP) last month are poised to file this week their opposition to the foreign fishermen’s petition for review before the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"The prosecutor received the appeal last Friday and he sought out assistance and in particular advised the complainants to file the comment/opposition," said lawyer Gerthie Mayo-Anda of the Palawan-based Environmental Legal Assistance Center.

Anda said the complainants — Palawan Council for Sustainable Development Staff (PCSDS), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and Department Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) — and their legal team will meet today to finalize their comment opposing the foreign fishermen’s petition.

The 30 Chinese fishermen, South Pacific Intermarketing Corp. (SPIC) president Fong Kwan Kong, and operations manager Nixon Edora have moved to appeal their cases before the DOJ in the wake of the dismissal of cases filed against another set of Chinese fishermen also accused of poaching in Philippine waters.

The SPIC had chartered the fishermen’s vessel, Hoi Wan.

Through their lawyer Roniel Pe, the fishermen and SPIC officials asked the DOJ to dismiss the charges against them because they were victims of arbitrary detention, insisting that the reglementary period for the filing of cases has lapsed and the evidence against them is inadmissible in court.