That even more implies the Philippine government is disorganized, first their law enforcement screw up big time (again), then their diplomats and envoys have no proper authority to negotiate, in the meantime they do everything to aggravate the other side, but hoping it'll all go away by itself and Taiwan's response will remain only verbal?
No it isn't chaos, it's just very retarded management. How could the Filipinos tolerate such is beyond belief.
How does any incompetent government stay in power? They draw the attention of the masses away from their own ineptitude by pointing at some 'grave' external threat and play the nationalism card even if they have to create that threat themselves. Anyone who dares to question the government when the country is facing an external threat can be easily besmirched as unpatriotic because they are not supporting their government when a time of national unity is needed blah blah blah.
That is partly why the Philippines seemed so willing and even eager to play the cat's pawn of the US in deliberately trying to antagonise China knowing that China's response would be tempered because China does not want to give the US any diplomatic ammunition, yet the kind of measured but firm response China would give to Filipino provocations would be the perfect distraction to rally the masses and keep their own scandals and incompetence out of the headlines of mainstream political discussions with minimal risk of having to face any real threats or consequences. In effect, its like some kid prodding a caged tiger with a long stick. He might get a roar or two in response and impress his mates, but there is little real risk of him getting bitten.
Having been outplayed by China over the Scarborough Shoal stand off, maybe the Philippines decided to go after smaller prey, or their forces are even more incompetent than commonly expected and mistook the Taiwan fishing boat for Chinese when they were looking to start round two with China.
I have always suspected that the shooting may have been more than accidental. Indeed, one of the main stumbling blocks that led to the breakdown of talks was a firm commitment by the Philippines to mount a joint investigation and properly punish the guilty parties.
If you look at it from the POV of the Philippines, an apology is just words, and they seem willing to apologies so it seems odd that they would nit pick so much over the exact wording and who delivered it. It just all seems far too petty and insignificant to be the real cause of the breakdown in talks.
Similarly, compensation for the families of the dead fisherman would have been a few million tops, and it isn't coming out of the pockets of the politicians, so why would they make so much fuss over pocket change?
The very fact that the Philippines' envoy was initially willing to pretty much agree to all of Taiwan's terms shows that there was no firm objection to any of them as a matter of principle.
So, either the Philippines' government flip flopped all over the place, or it might have belatedly emerged that the coast guard captain who opened fire might not have been acting entirely on his own initiative. If the coast guard was only following orders, the captain sure as hell isn't going to just shut up and take it when he is made the scapegoat and left out to flap in the breeze. Thus anyone higher up the food chain who might have given the order would have done all they can to make sure the investigation is white washed.
It sounds a little far fetched, but it strikes me as the most likely explanation. If the Philippines coast guard was indeed so incompetent and trigger happy, I dare say there would have been far more incidents. In addition, doing what amounts to a random drive-by doesn't really fit with past behaviour, when the Philippines coast guard seemed more interested in boarding and than ransoming fishing boats and their crews for cash from owners and families. Shooting up fishing boats and then fleeing the scene doesn't really make a lot of sense when you can capture them and earn a tidy sum from 'fines' and confiscating anything of value you find onboard.
