MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 19, 2014) – The Philippines said it will file criminal charges against 8 members of the Coast Guard in connection to the death of a Taiwanese poacher following an investigation launched by Aquino government.
The soldiers are facing homicide charges over the killing of Hong Shi Cheng last year during a standoff with the Philippine Coast Guard. A panel of Filipino prosecutors who investigated the case have found probable cause to charge the Coast Guard members and their commanding officers.
The eight Coast Guard personnel were identified as Commander Arnold dela Cruz, Seamen 1st Class Edrando Aguola, Mhelvin Bendo, Andy Masangcay, Andy Golfo, Henry Solomon, and Seaman 2nd Class Nicky Aurello and Petty Officer Richard Corpuz.
In a resolution, the prosecutors said: “This resolution to prosecute the respondents for homicide should not be construed as carte blanche for Taiwanese fishermen to illegally enter and poach within the Philippines territorial waters with impunity. The Taiwanese law enforcement and prosecutorial authorities should not take this to mean as res judicata or unbending precedent for future incidents involving Philippine monitoring, control and surveillance operations in the Balintang Channel.”
“More importantly, this resolution should not weaken the resolve of the rest of the professional Coast Guard men who are doing their mighty best, despite limited resources, to carry on and strictly enforce Philippine criminal laws within Philippine territory in accordance with established rules of engagement. This homicide case arose from a very peculiar set of facts and our findings are surely pro hac vice only.”
The panel also found probable cause to charge Dela Cruz and Bendo of obstruction of justice after they allegedly submitted falsified gunner report of the incident which occurred on May 9.
The Coast Guard opened fire on a Taiwanese boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 and killed Hong. Taiwan has protested the incident and imposed sanctions on the Philippines. The incident has been the subject of a comprehensive and in-depth investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation upon the instructions of President Aquino.
“The respondents all acted in unison with the common purpose of firing at the Guang Da Xing No. 28 to force it to submit to MCS-3001’s inspection or else,” the panel said, but it also stated that a “conspiracy was established by the NBI when it presented the fact that orders were given and the orders were obeyed and efficiently implemented with fatal consequences. That they all acted with that common purpose is crystal clear. When there is conspiracy, the act of one is the act of all.”
The Coast Guard personnel said they were only acting on self-defense when they fired on the Taiwanese boat to disable its engine. They said the Taiwanese boat rammed their patrol ship.
“In this case, the NPS (National Prosecutor Service) found no evidence to indicate or prove that the Taiwanese boat posed an imminent or grave danger to the Respondents before and during the pursuit. Absent clear evidence of such, the argument of self-defense cannot prosper in this preliminary investigation where probable cause is all that is needed for the filing of an information in court: The argument of self-defense is thus better left threshed out in the trial and determined by the trial court after a full-blown hearing,” the resolution said.
“As to the claim of fulfilment or performance of lawful duty, the NPS held that being a hostile vessel per se does not authorize the use of deadly force under the PCG (Philippine Coast Guard) Rules of Engagement. Even if it conceded that, at the first instance, MCS-3001 may have been regularly performing its duties at the Balintang Channel, at some later point, the successive firing at the Guang Da Xing No. 28, when there was no imminent and grave danger to MCS- 3001 and when other less extreme means could have first been undertaken, exceeded the performance of lawful duty. Citing jurisprudence, the Panel stated that a law enforcer is never justified in using unnecessary force or in treating the offender with wanton violence, or in resorting to dangerous means when the arrest could be effected otherwise.”
There was no immediate statement from Taiwan about the development in the case. (Mindanao Examiner)
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