38 Chinese fishermen jailed for poaching
By Jofelle Tesorio
July 18, 2003
Inquirer News Service-Philippines
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- The regional trial court imposed short jail terms and hefty fines for 38 Chinese fishermen convicted of poaching in Philippine waters, officials said Friday.
RTC Judge Perfecto Pe sentenced the defendants to 10 months in jail and fined them a combined 200,000 dollars on Thursday after they pleaded guilty to poaching and using poison to stun fish, court officials said.
However, they will be freed almost immediately, having been in custody since September last year.
The fishermen and their two boats were apprehended off El Nido town on Sept. 12 and were held without bail.
Non-government groups expressed frustration at the decision. Lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center said after the promulgation that there is a big difference between possession and actual use of noxious substance under Section 88 of the Fisheries Code, Anda explained.
Possession has a punishment of imprisonment of only six months to two years while actual use has 5-10 years imprisonment.
The Chinese were found possessing 1.8 tons of live groupers and Napoleon wrasses worth about 1.4 million pesos, empty bottles of sodium cyanide solution and powder and homemade dynamites and pellets used for explosives.
The fish samples examined by the cyanide detection center proved positive with cyanide, a prima facie evidence for actual use of noxious substance.
She said the decision is unfair for Filipino fishermen languishing at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm because they were convicted of illegal fishing.
Adelina Benavente-Villena, legal counsel for the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development said the Chinese should not be released without paying the fine of 200,000 dollars.
Last year, 112 Chinese poachers were released without fully paying the fines.
But Zoilo Cruzat, the lawyer for the Chinese said his clients had already served their sentence and the decision was just in accordance with the law. "We did not win, we lost," he said.
By Jofelle Tesorio
July 18, 2003
Inquirer News Service-Philippines
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- The regional trial court imposed short jail terms and hefty fines for 38 Chinese fishermen convicted of poaching in Philippine waters, officials said Friday.
RTC Judge Perfecto Pe sentenced the defendants to 10 months in jail and fined them a combined 200,000 dollars on Thursday after they pleaded guilty to poaching and using poison to stun fish, court officials said.
However, they will be freed almost immediately, having been in custody since September last year.
The fishermen and their two boats were apprehended off El Nido town on Sept. 12 and were held without bail.
Non-government groups expressed frustration at the decision. Lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center said after the promulgation that there is a big difference between possession and actual use of noxious substance under Section 88 of the Fisheries Code, Anda explained.
Possession has a punishment of imprisonment of only six months to two years while actual use has 5-10 years imprisonment.
The Chinese were found possessing 1.8 tons of live groupers and Napoleon wrasses worth about 1.4 million pesos, empty bottles of sodium cyanide solution and powder and homemade dynamites and pellets used for explosives.
The fish samples examined by the cyanide detection center proved positive with cyanide, a prima facie evidence for actual use of noxious substance.
She said the decision is unfair for Filipino fishermen languishing at the Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm because they were convicted of illegal fishing.
Adelina Benavente-Villena, legal counsel for the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development said the Chinese should not be released without paying the fine of 200,000 dollars.
Last year, 112 Chinese poachers were released without fully paying the fines.
But Zoilo Cruzat, the lawyer for the Chinese said his clients had already served their sentence and the decision was just in accordance with the law. "We did not win, we lost," he said.
