8 Coast Guard men found guilty of killing Taiwanese fisherman

8 Coast Guard men found guilty of killing Taiwanese fisherman
Mike Navallo, Sep 18 2019 https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/09/18/19/8-coast-guard-men-found-guilty-of...

MANILA -- A Manila court has convicted 8 Philippine Coast Guard personnel of homicide for the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman in the Balintang Channel in May 2013.

Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 15 sentenced Coast Guard Cmdr Arnold dela Cruz, SN2 Nicky Aurelio, SN1 Edrando Aguila, SN1 Mhelvyn Bendo II, SN1 Andy Gibb Golfo, SN1 Sonny Masangkay, SN1 Henry Solomon and PO2 Richard Corpuz to 8 years 1 day to 14 years 8 months, 1 day imprisonment and P50,000 in civil indemnity and P50,000 in moral damages.

They were found to have shot dead Taiwanese Hong Shi Cheng after a sea chase off the coast of Batanes and Babuyan Islands.

The Coast Guard personnel initially sought the dismissal of the case for insufficiency of evidence but the court denied their demurrer in October 2018 and stood by its ruling earlier this year.

Six of them had claimed there was no "personal and positive identification" of them as the persons who committed the crime.

But Judge Eduardo Ramon Reyes cited the testimonies of a Taiwanese forensic official and a ballistician from the National Bureau of Investigation showing that the Taiwanese vessel was riddled with bullets and that the slugs found in the boat matched the firearms recovered from the accused's vessel.

The Balintang incident caused a diplomatic spat between Taiwan and the Philippines. Taiwan imposed sanctions on the Philippines which were lifted only after a Philippine government official traveled to Taiwan to apologize and after the NBI recommended filing of charges against the 8 accused.