WWF: 38 Chinese fishers must first plead guilty and pay the fine

Allow the release of 38 Chinese fishermen detained for poaching off Palawan only if they first plead guilty and pay the fine.

This was the appeal of World Wildlife Fund-Philippines, an environment conservation organization, to the government yesterday following reports that the Chinese government has sought the release of the 38 detained Chinese fishermen in time for the Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 1.

WWF-Philippines president Lory Tan said the government must strictly implement the law and leave no room for plea-bargaining and 85 percent discount on the fines.

"With the Tubbataha case, we established a precedent. This should be followed. The Chinese must first plead guilty and pay the fine. And only after this can their release be considered," she said.

Last year, 122 Chinese fishermen caught poaching in the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, a UNESCO-declared Heritage Site, pleaded guilty and paid a fine. They were subsequently released as "a gesture of goodwill" in time for the visit of Chinese Premier Li Peng.

The WWF dismissed as an "old story" the claim of the counsel of the 38 Chinese nationals that they were apprehended outside Philippine jurisdiction.

The counsel raised this argument in a motion to quash filed with the Palawan Provincial Committee on Illegal Entrants.

The group said history attests that commercial fish workers from China are mostly caught poaching in Philippine territory.

Tan said the poachers come in and use destructive and unlawful means to harvest commercial fish and endangered species such as whale sharks, turtles, giant clams and corals from protected areas of the country.

Palawan authorities said the 38 Chinese fishermen were caught near the Malampaya natural gas platform west of Palawan, thus within Philippine jurisdiction.

"From 1995 until June 2002, 695 foreigners on 45 vessels were caught poaching in the waters of Palawan. Of the total, 484 were from the People’s Republic of China, and the rest from Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan," Tan said.

Chinese Embassy officials went to the Department of Foreign Affairs last week to reiterate their request for the release of the 38 fishermen. They forwarded a diplomatic note on the matter last month.

The scheduled hearing on the case last Jan. 20 was deferred and the arraignment has yet to be scheduled.