TUGUEGARAO CITY , Philippines – A 56-year-old Taiwanese arrested in Itbayat, Batanes for illegal fishing has been absolved after the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) accepted his offer to pay the minimum penalty of $50,000.
Batanes Provincial Prosecutor Alejo Tangaro Jr. said Tsai Po has already served the minimum imprisonment to be imposed in case of conviction.
“In the final analysis, the manifestation of the said primordial agency (BFAR) that the case is already terminated as far as they are concerned contains exculpatory statement which would render the prosecution of the case futile,†read the prosecutor’s resolution.
Angel Encarnacion, Batanes provincial fisheries action officer, had charged Tsai with violating Republic Act 8550 – the Fisheries Law – on Sept. 6.
Batanes police director Senior Superintendent Edgardo Pamittan said Bureau of Immigration representative Henry Tubban received custody of Tsai.
Filipino authorities have turned over Tsai to the custody of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO), the de facto embassy of Taiwan in Manila.
Tubban, Batanes Gov. Vicente Gato and TECO representatives accompanied Tsai to the port of Mahatao, where he sailed back to Taiwan last Wednesday, Pamittan said.
Tsai had been under police custody in Basco, Batanes since he was arrested for poaching off Batan Island near the Philippine-Taiwan border last Sept. 3.
Police said Tsai had a medical checkup and was in regular contact with his wife in Taiwan while in detention in Batanes.