Eight Philippine coast guard members charged with homicide

MANILA -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Thursday that it has formally filed criminal charges against eight Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officials and personnel for their involvement in the fatal shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman off Balintang Channel in northern Philippines last year.

Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, head of the DOJ's prosecutorial arm, said charges of homicide and obstruction of justice have been filed against the eight PCG personnel on March 27 before the regional trial courts of Batanes and Cagayan Valley provinces.

Arellano said the homicide charges were filed in Batanes province since it has jurisdiction over the site of the shooting incident while charges of obstruction of justice were lodged in Cagayan Valley province as this was where agents of the National Bureau of Investigation initially conducted their investigation.

The cases were filed after the DOJ found sufficient evidence to charge the eight PCG personnel.

The DOJ investigating panel led by Assistant State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera dismissed the claim of respondents that they were forced to fired at the Taiwanese fishing boat after it tried to ram the Filipino vessel.

The panel also did not give credence to the claim of the respondents that they cannot be held criminally liable for the incident as they were merely performing their lawful duties.

Instead the panel held that the respondents "all acted in unison with the common purpose of firing" at the Taiwanese fishing boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 to force it to submit to inspection.

The DOJ also said there was no evidence to indicate that the Taiwanese boat posed an imminent or grave danger to the respondents before and during the pursuit.

The shooting incident off Balintang Channel in May 2013 resulted in the death of Hung Shih-Cheng, 65, one of the four crew members of the Taiwanese fishing vessel.