Philippines Detains 19 Chinese Fishermen

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / 05 Sept) – Philippine authorities detained 19 Chinese fishermen for poaching off the southern island of Tawi-Tawi, police said Wednesday.

Police said security forces seized 19 live turtles and carcasses of 58 turtles and 50 more dried carcasses from the fishermen who were arrested at the weekend.

The poachers were arrested near Turtle Island, a marine sanctuary, said Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, director of the regional police in the Muslim autonomous region.

Other reports said some 10,000 turtle eggs and carcasses of about 200 endangered turtles were seized from the fishermen, all from Hainan in China.

Goltiao said they filed charges Tuesday against the Chinese poachers and their ship seized.

“We have filed criminal charges against the 19 Chinese poachers in violation of the Philippine laws,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said Pasu Minda Bairulla, a Filipino environment officer assigned in Taganak Island, reported to the police the presence of the poachers near the Turtle Island.

Policemen, backed by Marines, Coast Guard and the Navy, surrounded the ship and arrested the fishermen.

Goltiao said police forces were closely working with the Coast Guard and the Navy and Marines in patrolling marine sanctuaries in the southern Philippines.

“Filipino fishermen are also helping authorities guard the sanctuaries against poachers,” he said.

Turtle eggs are considered an aphrodisiac in many Asian countries, but the in the Philippines their sale is illegal, but a black market for them persists.

Filipino patrol boats have previously detained Taiwanese and Chinese fishermen for poaching off the Sulu Archipelago, a favorite fishing ground in the south, but many areas also are considered marine sanctuary. (Mindanao Examiner)

Taiwan Police Links Philippine Navy To Extortion Racket

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 29 Jul) – The Taiwanese police have uncovered an extortion racket involving Filipino navy patrol boats victimizing Taiwanese trawlers caught in Philippine waters, reports said.

Strategy Page, a research and military analysis website, said Filipino naval officers were extorting money from Taiwanese fishermen in exchange for the release of their boats.

“Taiwanese police have uncovered an extortion racket involving Filipino naval officers. At least two Filipino patrol boats have caught Taiwanese fishing boats illegally operating in Filipino waters.”

“The Filipino offer to let the fishing boat captains pay a lower fine, directly to the officers, rather than pay a larger fine and have their boats detained in a Filipino port,” it said in a report that can be accessed on this web page http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/phillip/articles/20070728.aspx.

The report did not say where or how many Taiwanese fishermen were arrested or give details of the extortion activities.

But Filipino patrol boats have previously detained Taiwanese and Chinese fishermen for poaching off the Sulu Archipelago near the Sabah border the southern Philippines and also off Palawan island in central Philippines and in northern Luzon near Taiwan.

It was unknown if the Philippine Navy was aware of the report, but officials could not be immediately contacted to make a statement about the allegations.

The Philippine Navy has been involved in several anomalies in the past – from overpriced Kevlar helmets to smuggling activities in the south. (Mindanao Examiner)