Published on 20 May 2013
Written by Bernice Camille V. Bauzon, Catherine S. Valente and Ritchie A. Horario Reporters And Jomar Canlas Senior Reporter
IF not for the unwelcome interference of a Philippine government official, Taiwan would have accepted the apology issued by Manila over the death of a Taiwanese fisherman off Batanes two weeks ago.
Officials of the Taiwan Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) on Monday also revealed that two letters presented by the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) to Taiwan were deemed acceptable at first but were scrapped after a “secret phone call” from the official, who has not been named.
The phone call “blew up everything” previously agreed upon, David Chen, TECO’s assistant to the representative, told reporters during a luncheon briefing in Makati City.
He said the phone call was made to Antonio Basilio, MECO’s resident representative in Taipei, merely minutes after a third “acceptable” letter was handed to Taiwan Foreign Minister David Lin.
Basilio was sought for comment but he would not talk.
‘Beyond imagination’
According to Chen, the fourth and final version of the letter was “unacceptable and beyond imagination” even though it expressed deep regret for the killing of 65-year-old Hung Shih-chen by members of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on May 9.
All four letters, which were presented between 8 p.m. and midnight of May 14, were signed by Basilio but the last version had a second copy signed by MECO Chairman Amadeo Perez Jr., President Benigno Aquino 3rd’s personal representative to Taipei.
None of the letters bore the signature of the President since the Philippines follow the One China Policy, which means no government official can directly negotiate with Taiwan, considered a province by mainland China.
Chen said the first and third letters were acceptable to Taiwan because the “regret and apology” over the incident were conveyed by the “Philippine government” and not by the “Filipino people” as mentioned by the second and fourth versions.
“The shooting incident was conducted by civil servants. It is not the Filipino people’s fault. That’s why we cannot accept the letter saying President Aquino wants peace and Filipino people apologize [for the incident] because the Filipino people are not [responsible for what happened],” he explained.
“We demand a formal apology. We want your government to formally apologize,” Chen said.
Different versions
The first and third versions responded positively to the four concessions asked by Taipei from Manila—a formal apology from the Philippine government, a thorough investigation of the incident and appropriate punishment for the perpetrators, compensation to the family of the fisherman and opening of fisheries talks.
The second and final versions, however, dropped the promise to investigate the incident and punish those who will be found guilty.
The final letter, which was eventually rejected by Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, also did not say whether it will provide financial restitution to the victim’s family.
“If this happened to you, I believe you will also feel strange. We agreed on something and then you [suddenly] changed and changed this [in one night],” Chen said.
He said that until all of Taiwan’s conditions are met, it will continue to impose “countermeasures” against the Philippines, which include a freeze on the hiring of Filipino workers and the recalling of its de facto ambassador in Manila.
There are about 85,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan, mostly in the manufacturing and domestic sectors. Labor officials said some 2,000 applications are processed monthly.
Unacceptable
Chen explained that the four responses from Manila were “not acceptable” as they were “not formal.”
“What we are asking for is very fair—an impartial investigation. We want to follow the right procedure in accordance with international laws,” he pointed out.
“We do not ask excessively. They [requirements] are reasonable. We cannot accept such unsatisfactory [responses from the Philippine government]. They promised one thing first and then, different agencies say different things,” he added.
Chen said the Taiwanese investigation team that arrived in Manila last week was invited by Basilio.
The team was surprised when it received a notice from the Department of Justice (DOJ) saying they should go through proper channels, he added.
Chen said a similar case was resolved in January 2006 under the administration of then President and now Representative Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga.
A Taiwanese fishing vessel was apparently shot at by a Philippine vessel, which killed one and severely injured another. A week after the incident, an investigation team arrived from Taiwan on January 23 and stayed in Manila until the 27th.
A Philippine team was then sent to Taiwan from March 2 to 5 to conduct its own investigation regarding the incident, Chen said.
Before the investigation team arrived from Taiwan, its de facto envoy to Manila Raymond Wang also wrote the Justice department to inform it about their intentions to hold a joint investigation on the incident, Chen added.
TECO officials maintained that what happened off the coast of Batanes island on May 9 was a “shooting spree” and a “cold-blooded murder.”
According to documents presented by TECO, the Guang Da Xing No. 28 was 14.7 meters in length and 15.15 tons in weight compared to the PCG’s Philippine Marine Control and Surveillance Vessel 3001, which is 30 meters in length and 115.45 tons in weight.
“Let the evidence talk. They say we rammed their boat, but we are very small in size,” Chen said.
The boat had 59 bullet holes, mostly in the cockpit.
“It was a shooting spree,” Chen insisted, adding that members of the PCG should have known that the fishermen would hide in the cockpit.
Chen admitted that the Taiwanese and the Indonesian on board tried to escape.
But before they could do so, shots rang out, Chen quoted the fishermen as saying.
“They don’t think they [Philippine vessel] fired a warning shot. It is a series of shooting. They tried to escape but they were chased by the Filipino ship,” he said.
Overlapping EEZs
At the same time, Chen belied media reports saying that the Taiwanese fishermen were poaching in Philippine territorial waters.
The channel separating Taipei and Manila is very narrow, so the two countries’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) overlap, he explained, adding that if Manila will claim its 200-nautical mile right to explore and exploit resources, it would reach central Taiwan.
The incident happened 36 nautical miles from Batanes Island and 164 nautical miles from Taiwan’s south, which is a clear indication that it was off the Philippines 12-nautical mile and 24-nautical mile territorial and adjacent waters, Chen said.
“It happened in disputed waters. It is still our EEZ just as you are entitled to claim your EEZ,” he told reporters.
An EEZ was provided for by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) to delineate the parts of the sea that can be exclusively exploited by a claimant country.
