Gonzalez fools Luli, makes liars of cops

Injustice Secretary Raul Gonzalez got away with it after all. He found a way to break his promise to presidential daughter Luli Arroyo to indict Chinese poachers in Palawan seas. He did it with usual mental dishonesty. To recall, Luli had phoned Gonzalez Friday about disturbing news that he wants raps withdrawn against poachers, mentioning the 30 Chinese caught at Tubbataha Reef on Dec. 21. Gonzalez had to vow to uphold the law. Behind closed doors, however, he gleefully noted that Luli was referring to that case, and not the one about 22 Chinese caught on Oct. 21 off Mangsee Island. And so he sent word to prosecutors in Palawan to pursue the case relentlessly against the 30 poachers caught in Dec. As for those caught in Oct., he was silent. Meaning, his earlier order was to be carried out, and that is to take back the charges from the court where those were filed.

Gonzalez doesn’t seem to care that Luli represents the youth’s voice for conserving and against despoiling nature. Meaningless perhaps is the tenet that his generation does not own Earth but merely uses it until passed on – intact – to the next generation. What matters is that some confusion arose from the two poaching incidents, giving him a chance to play games.

To set things straight, the Dec. 21 episode involved 30 Chinese whom the Coast Guard caught aboard the f/v Hoi Wan inside Tubbataha National Park, a UN World Heritage Site where fishing is banned. Found onboard, aside from 11 sampans and gear for reef fishing, were about 1,200 live fish, including 539 napoleon wrasses (mameng), the trade of which is banned by the UN Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. The 30 have been charged with poaching, illegal fish trading, and illegal entry and use of motors in a marine reserve. Judge Toribio Ilao of Palawan’s regional trial court branch 52, the province’s special court for environment crimes, has freed all 30 on bail.

The Oct. 21 incident involves 22 Chinese caught off Mangsee Island after a 30-minute chase from Palawan’s Balabac Isles. Although closer to Palawan mainland, Mangsee is a municipality of Tawi-Tawi. The vessel has no name, only the number 2880. The Coast Guard spotted the crew fishing with net, hooks and lines. Onboard were live reef fish, including 20 mameng that fetch up to $200 apiece in Hong Kong, six barrels of dynamited ones, two air compressors, and gallons of formaldehyde. The 22 were charged with various violations of the Fisheries Code (R.A. 8550), namely, poaching, possession of dynamited fish, and possession of endangered species. Known as People vs Kwok Wai Ming, the head of the crew, the case is also pending before Judge Ilao.

If Judge Ilao’s name sounds familiar, it may be because he was in a third news item recently. On the day he granted bail to the 30 poachers of Dec. 21, he also ordered the release of still another poaching ship, f/v King King Hai. This is the vessel caught in June also in Palawan, laden with over 200 newly killed and stuffed giant sea turtles, another endangered fauna. Ilao’s order to return the crime ship to its Chinese owner is controversial because it came in the midst of avid prosecuting by the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR). Ironically, BFAR chief Malcolm Sarmiento is now facing contempt raps for holding on to ship while pleading to stop the release.

Back to the Kwok Wai Ming case of Oct. 21, Gonzalez is about to set a treacherous precedent. The 22 Chinese earlier had sought reinvestigation of charges, the court denied it, they asked for reconsideration, denied again. They then stepped out of court and went to Gonzalez for review. Surprising legal circles, Gonzalez ordered a drop of the case already filed by his men. The Supreme Court had long ago ruled that, once a charge is filed, only the judge may rule on its withdrawal. Yet, under Gonzalez’s order, prosecutors in Palawan must take back the charges in the hearing set for today. It will now rest on whether Ilao allows the move. If he does, all Chinese poachers henceforth will petition Gonzalez for review. That will be the new modus of letting environment criminals off the hook, no longer simply releasing them without charges as was done with 600 others since 1998. Gonzalez recklessly will be more powerful than courts.

At any rate, Gonzalez’s reasons for dismissing the case belittle the capability and credibility of the Coast Guard. The Chinese claimed to have been fishing outside Philippine waters when spotted; Gonzalez adds that the Coast Guard must have erred in plotting the coordinates with compass and radar since Mangsee was barely visible that day. Ignored by him is that the officers also had accurate GPS (global positioning system) waypoints – Latitude 7 degrees 10.75 minutes North, and Longitude 117 degrees 41.5 minutes East, or 31.35 nautical miles southeast of Mangsee – well within territorial waters.

Gonzalez also points to supposed discrepancies in dates, like why the ship and contraband were ordered confiscated on Oct. 23, but inventory was done on Oct. 25. He sees anomaly where there is none. It normally would take two days to take an apprehended ship from Mangsee to the Palawan capital of Puerto Princesa, and then file the legal paperwork for confiscation. Then, only after the ship is cleared of poachers may BFAR personnel inspect the contraband. In the case of the Hoi Wan of Dec. 21, it took a week to bring the 30 Chinese to Puerto Princesa because no Navy ship was available to escort, and then it took another week to count all the live fish while feeding and transferring them to sea pens. "There is always a logistical lag," explains Lory Tan, who as president of World Wildlife Fund-Philippines has joined such legal and rescue work. "Actual inventory just cannot be done on the same day as confiscation."

Most glaringly, Gonzalez overlooks evidence of dynamiting from BFAR experts who were with the apprehending officers. Furthermore, the use of explosives, the location of the poachers, and the questioned dates are matters that can be proved or disproved in a full-blown hearing, according to environment lawyer Linda Jimeno, former president of the Philippine Bar Association. She adds that there is probable cause that crime may have been committed, so the charges must be heard instead of withdrawn.

Gonzalez is a staunch advocate of the presumption of good faith by law enforcers in the difficult course of their work. But in the case of the 22 Chinese, he presumes the Coast Guard and BFAR personnel to be laggards.

Gonzalez also presumes police incompetence in the case of Amin Boratong, owner of the "shabu flea market" in Pasig City. No less than half-brother Samer Palao has confessed to the police that Boratong was able to operate the drug den for years by bribing cops and judges. The Anti-Money Laundering Council too has strong evidence to seize Boratong’s P40-million criminal loot deposited in banks. But Gonzalez, who used to always plead for trust in the authorities, insists the case buildup is weak. On request of Boratong’s wife, he is ordering his prosecutors to nail Palao instead of making him state witness. That would crumble the case, of course.

If only a diligent opposition leader digs deep, he would find out who Boratong really is. Talk at the justice department is that the guy contributed heavily to the administration’s election campaign in 2004. How’s that for "narco-politics"?

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