CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) has dared the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to show the controversial video where members of the PCG were allegedly caught either “laughing or smiling” while firing at Taiwanese fishermen on May 9 at the Balintang Channel.
A 64-year old Taiwanese fisherman was killed during the incident, triggering diplomatic tussle between Taiwan and the Philippines.
In a press statement, Pamalakaya vice chairperson Salvador France said “the PCG should make the video public for national assessment and to help the Filipino people to come out with a better picture and correct political and diplomatic positioning on the issue.”
The PCG took the video during encounter between the coastal patrol vessel MCS-3001 and the Taiwanese fishing boat Guan Ta Hsin 28 in waters off Balintang Island in northern Philippines on May 9.
The video was already submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for the investigation of the fatal shooting of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-chen.
PCG spokesperson Commander Armand Balilo said he had seen the video and dismissed the allegations that PCG men were either laughing or smiling as they fired at the Taiwanese boat.
Pamalakaya reiterated its demand for the Department of Justice to charge and put behind bars the six members PCG who fired at the Taiwanese boat.
The group said appropriate charges should also be filed against officials and members of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) who were with the members of the PCG.
The PCG had previously claimed that its men had acted in self-defense and were only performing their duty to stop illegal fishing and poaching inside Philippine territory.
A China Post report said the Taiwanese the vessel was fishing 315 kilometers (170 nautical miles) off the southern tip of Taiwan “when the Philippine authorities attacked them.”
The sailor of the Taiwanese ship said “Philippine naval forces opened fire with machine guns without any warning, killing Hung Shih-chen, the father of the boat’s skipper.”
