PCG men in Balintang shooting surrender, post bail

MANILA, Philippines - Eight coastguardsmen accused of killing a Taiwanese fisherman in Balintang Channel off Batanes last year surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday morning and promptly posted bail.

A source told The STAR “the officer” called the NBI to say that they were going to surrender.

Commander Arnold de la Cruz, the highest ranking among the accused, said they decided to surrender to the NBI as “it’s expensive” to surrender to the court in Cagayan and Batanes.

“After this we would be requesting for a transfer of venue,” he said. “We are not rich people, we are just employees so we had to find ways to come up with the amount of bail.”

Accused of homicide with De la Cruz are Petty Officer 2 Richard Fernandez Corpuz, Seaman 2nd Class Nicky Reynold Aurello and Seamen 1st Class Edrando Quiapo Aguila, Mhelvin Bendo, Andy Gibb Ronario Golfo, Sunny Galang Masangcay, and Henry Baco Solomon.

They each posted P40,000 bail at the Manila regional trial court after they were booked.

De la Cruz and Bendo also posted P12,000 bail each at the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court for the case of obstruction of justice.

They posted bail in courts in Manila because the NBI, which has its headquarters in Manila, acquired jurisdiction over them when they surrendered.

At the NBI, agents took their fingerprints and mug shots.

After processing their documents, they were escorted to Manila RTC Branch 37 to post bail.

De la Cruz speaks out

De la Cruz told The STAR he would have done what he had done to protect the country’s interest even if he had known that they would be charged for their actions.

“When they first approached us, when they attempted to ram us, some of my people were not aware because they were preparing the rubber boat,” he said.

“Had they (Taiwanese vessel) sideswiped us, our boat could have tilted and some of my men could have fallen into the water.”

De la Cruz was the highest ranking coastguardsman  on board the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) vessel at the time of the shooting on May 9 last year.

De la Cruz said some of the boat’s crew could have fallen overboard had the Taiwanese fishing boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 sideswiped them.

Their actions that day were anchored on procedures, he added.

De la Cruz said he is due to retire in 2018, and that the last four years were “crucial” for him.

His name was not included in two promotional cycles because he could not get clearance following the incident at Balintang Channel, he added.

De la Cruz said it has been a year since the incident and they have been deprived of many things.

“We cannot be promoted, we could not get a clearance, we could not apply for a loan and our (work) assignments have been restricted,” he said.

“The longer it (the case) will take, the more taxing it would be for us.” 

De la Cruz said he tried to hide the incident from his 72-year-old mother, although she learned about it from the news.

The Balintang Channel incident had affected their families, he added.

Last month, Judge Domingo Quilang of Cagayan Municipal Trial Court Branch 11 issued warrants for the arrest of De la Cruz and Bendo for obstruction of justice for allegedly splicing the video footage of the shooting in Balintang Channel.

Judge Ramon Baroña of the Batanes RTC Branch 13 issued arrest warrants for homicide against De la Cruz, Corpuz, Aurello,   Aguila, Bendo, Golfo,   Masangcay and Solomon three weeks ago.

The eight were implicated in the killing of 65-year-old suspected Taiwanese poacher Hung Shih-cheng off Batanes.