President Duterte will lead the Nov. 2 ceremonial send-off for 17
Vietnamese fishermen caught poaching off Sta. Catalina town in Ilocos
Sur province, after a prosecutor dismissed the charges against them.
The fishermen were on board three fishing boats on Sept. 8 when they
were arrested by the Philippine Navy about 28 nautical miles off Sta.
Catalina.
After his two-day visit to Vietnam in September, Mr. Duterte ordered
the release of the fishermen “as an act of goodwill on the part of the
Philippine government.”
The fishermen were charged with poaching but Associate Provincial
Prosecutor Meinrado Plete in Vigan City dismissed the charges on Oct. 7.
Plete lent credence to the Vietnamese fishermen’s account that they
reached Philippine waters “to protect themselves from unsympathetic and
exacting waves brought about by then incoming Typhoon ‘Ferdie’ and
‘habagat’ in the Philippine sea.”
“They reached Philippine waters because of force of nature, which, at
that time, could not be foreseen and could not be controlled by man.
Instead of the punitive arm of the law, we should extend to them our
helping hand,” said Plete.
Because of the decision, the Ilocos regional office of the Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) also dropped its administrative
complaint against the Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese have been staying in their boats at the Sual fish port
in Pangasinan province. The BFAR confiscated from them about 5,000
kilos of fish, mostly tuna, which were distributed to government
hospitals and charitable institutions in the Ilocos region.
Share It To Your Friends!
