7 foreign poachers fall

ZAMBOANGA CITY — At least five Chinese, a Briton and an Irishman were apprehended by Navy forces aboard a motor vessel that illegally encroached into the Philippine waters Wednesday in an island off Sulu.

Col. Hilario Atendido, spokesman of the Armed Forces Southern Command, said the Navy elements were conducting a naval blockade and navigational patrol when it intercepted at about 10:20 a.m. the foreign vessel M/V Chenlun Yao, of Chinese registry, 1.3 nautical miles east of Bitinan Island, Sulu.

He said the Navy discovered six personnel and the boat skipper on board. One male and female were holding People’s Republic of China (PROC) fishery seamen record books while three had Hong Kong Special Administration Region-PROC passports and two had Great Britain and Northern Ireland passports.

He said the skipper of the boat allegedly attempted to bribe the commanding officer of the patrol gunboat with a bundle of P1,000 bills estimated to be P100,000 for the speedy release of the vessel and its crew.

Atendido said the names of the apprehended foreign nationals were not immediately made available.

"It was also discovered that the said vessel has no clearance from any concerned Philippine agency," Atendido said. According to him, the skipper presented only Hong Kong and Indonesian papers.

The Navymen disclosed the vessel had no aquatic cargoes on board but discovered three drums packed with unidentified crystal granules.

Atendido added the vessel was immediately turned over to the Coast Guard Station in Jolo, while the naval intelligence security group took sample of the granules for laboratory test and further investigation. — Roel Pareño