MANILA, Philippines - Taiwan may give today an official clearance to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) personnel who will probe there the Philippine Coast Guard's (PCG) fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman.
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said on Tuesday that an official clearance is needed to authorize the movements of the PCG personnel bound for Taiwan and to avoid any untoward incident following heightened tensions between the two countries.
"Ngayong araw po malalaman natin kung opisyal nang pinayagan o mayroon nang clearance (NBI) sa authorities nila," De Lima said in a radio interview.
The Philippines and Taiwan have agreed to a parallel investigation on the shooting incident on May 9 that killed Hung Shih-chen, a suspected Taiwanese poacher off Batanes.
Instead of a joint investigation, Philippine and Taiwanese authorities will instead cooperate with each other and separately probe the fishing vessels involved in the incident.
Related story: Phl, Taiwan probers agree to cooperate
De Lima said the NBI has completed examining the pieces of evidence from the Philippines.
"[W]hat remains to be done as far as I know ay 'yung tawagan 'yung NBI na pumunta sa Taiwan para makumpleto na 'yung imbestigasyon," said De Lima.
She earlier dismissed as premature the conclusion of Taiwanese probers that the fatal shooting was intentional.