Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has received a copy of a report by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation on the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (洪石成) by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, Philippine Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima reportedly said yesterday.
Philippine newspaper the Sun Star yesterday quoted De Lima as saying that the report would not be released until Aquino gave his approval.
De Lima declined to disclose the contents of the report, which, according to Philippine media reports, recommends charging the coast guard personnel involved in the incident.
Photo: CNA
Taiwanese and Philippine investigators last week compared notes in their separate, but cooperative investigations into the incident that occurred on May 9 about 164 nautical miles (304km) off Taiwan’s southernmost tip.
Their reports have not yet been released.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported yesterday that it had learned from a source that the bureau has recommended filing criminal charges against the coast guard personnel.
However, there was a debate within the bureau over whether to bring murder charges against the personnel because although “superior strength” was used “against an unarmed civilian,” the death of Hung was not premeditated, the source was quoted as saying by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report includes the identities of the PCG personnel who fired at the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 and the identity of the officer who fired the bullet that killed Hung, the daily reported.
The daily said that the bureau’s report disproved an earlier claim by the PCG that the Taiwanese fishing boat tried to ram the Philippine patrol vessel, but the bureau insisted that the shooting happened in Philippine waters.
The PCG has said its personnel fired on the fishing boat because it was moving toward them aggressively and that they had aimed for the engine to incapacitate the boat. However, the bureau’s report said that the results of ballistic tests and trajectory examination of the fishing boat showed that the shooters did not know where the engine was, the source said.
In response to the disclosure of the report, Philippine Senator Gringo Honasan reportedly said yesterday that Aquino should be very careful in dealing with the alleged recommendations.
According to an ABS-CBN news report, Honasan told reporters that filing charges against the personnel who killed Hung could demoralize the PCG.
Honasan reportedly urged the Aquino administration to clarify its policy toward China and Taiwan, particularly on the issue of territorial rights, as he said that the Taiwanese fishing boat was poaching in Philippine territory.
Taiwan’s Fisheries Agency has flatly rejected Manila’s claim that the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28 was intruding into the territorial waters of the Philippines.
The agency says information recorded by the fishing boat’s voyage data recorder system proves that it was operating within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone, which overlaps that of the Philippines.
Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has died of pneumonia at the age of 48 while on a trip to Japan, where she contracted influenza during the Lunar New Year holiday, her sister confirmed today through an agent. "Our whole family came to Japan for a trip, and my dearest and most kindhearted sister Barbie Hsu died of influenza-induced pneumonia and unfortunately left us," Hsu's sister and talk show hostess Dee Hsu (徐熙娣) said. "I was grateful to be her sister in this life and that we got to care for and spend time with each other. I will always be grateful to
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
REMINDER: Of the 6.78 million doses of flu vaccine Taiwan purchased for this flu season, about 200,000 are still available, an official said, following Big S’ death As news broke of the death of Taiwanese actress and singer Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛), also known as Big S (大S), from severe flu complications, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and doctors yesterday urged people at high risk to get vaccinated and be alert to signs of severe illness. Hsu’s family yesterday confirmed that the actress died on a family holiday in Japan due to pneumonia during the Lunar New Year holiday. CDC Deputy Director-General Tseng Shu-hui (曾淑慧) told an impromptu news conference that hospital visits for flu-like illnesses from Jan. 19 to Jan. 25 reached 162,352 — the highest
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
RSS