Palace: Ramming of Taiwan boat an aggressive act
Friday, May 10, 2013
MANILA (Updated) --
Malacañang defended Friday the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) against "aggressive act" of a Taiwanese fishing boat where a fisherman was killed off West Philippine Sea last Thursday.
Quoting an initial report reaching the Palace, deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the PCG personnel on board the vessel of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) merely reacted on the attempt of one of the four Taiwanese fishing boats to ram on the Philippines ship.
The Filipino Maritime Control Surveillance 3001 vessel spotted four Taiwanese fishing vessels about 43 nautical miles east of Balintang Island, which is well within the Philippines 200-mile economic zone, around 10:30 a.m. Thursday while on law enforcement patrol.
"When they (PCG personnel) tried to board one of the fishing boats, one of the (Taiwanese) vessels rammed the BFAR vessel that was being manned by the Coast Guard. So a warning shot was fired, but the vessels reportedly did not stop in the attempt to continuously ram the BFAR vessel and another shot was fired on the machinery portion of the ship," Valte said.
The PCG admitted that a Taiwanese fisherman was killed in the incident.
"It was an aggressive act. The ramming of the boat into our vessel was certainly an aggressive act, so the PCG responded accordingly," she said.
Coast Guard commandant Rear Admiral Rodoldo Isorena said all the Coast Guard personnel and the two BFAR personnel aboard the Filipino vessel have been relieved of their duties pending the investigation.
This is to ensure a "transparent and impartial" probe, he said.
"We assure a transparent and impartial investigation and this is also the assurance that we are giving to the Taiwanese government," he said.
Taiwan reportedly sought for a public apology from the Philippine government and demanded compensation for the losses.
A report on Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) quoted President Ma Ying-jeou who instructed the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand that the Philippine government investigate the incident and provide proper compensation to the family of the 65-year-old victim, identified as Hung Shih-cheng.
He also demanded an apology from the Philippine government, and for it "to solve the case and arrest the culprit."
The CNA report said that there have been incidents in the past when Taiwanese fishermen were arrested and detained while they were fishing in the contested area, but there have been rarely reports of shooting.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already conveyed its concern to Philippine Representative to Taipei Carlo Aquino.
Valte said the Palace would wait first for the result of the investigation that Isorena had ordered before coming out with any action on Taiwan's demand.
In a separate report on Xinhua, the Chinese government called the shooting of the Taiwanese fishermen by the Coast Guard "barbaric."
China considers Taiwan a province and under its jurisdiction based on the One China Policy.
The incident, which happened in the contested areas claimed by the Philippines, China and Taiwan, is feared to further raise tensions in a region clouded by territorial and maritime issues because of overlapping claims.
Aside from the three countries, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam are also claimant to the resource-rich region where around $5 trillion worth of global trade passes. (SDR/CVB/VR/Sunnex)
Malacanang defends Philippine Coast Guard on Taiwan boat's
that makes prefect sense 
and other thing for you would your trolling stop it? would help build up my countries defense? I here you said your military man you should know things like this takes time? hahaha that's why your loser! loser i think you should go back play your games on your computer you n000b! real warfare is different from your stupid games it takes time and thinking you cant re-spawn back after your dead you fool take your bag of cheap chips and pig out while playing your games the adults are talking
