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Coast guard apprehends 7 Vietnamese poachers
By Evelyn Macairan
The Philippine Star 04/13/2005

Seven suspected Vietnamese poachers were nabbed by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) for illegally fishing in the Philippine waters off the shore of Palawan last Sunday.

Lt. Armand Balilo, PCG spokesperson, identified the apprehended Vietnamese nationals as Tzan Cuan, Tzan Quang, Le Quan, Tzan Xanh, Tzan Hung, Le Thang, and Le Thuy.

The suspects were spotted on board their fishing boat by PCG vessel BRP Pampanga some 135 nautical miles off Libro Point in El Nido, Palawan.

The fishermen will be charged for violation of Republic Act 8550, that covered provisions on illegal fishing, and for illegal entry in Philippine territory.

The alleged poachers failed to produce any document that could legalize their fishing explorations in Philippine territorial waters. The suspects were turned over to another PCG vessel, the BRP Ilocos Norte, and had their fishing boat towed to Puerto Princesa City in Palawan.

Balilo said they accidentally stumbled on the Vietnamese fishing boat while conducting their search and rescue operations for F/BCA Maria Emelyn 2.

For almost a month, the PCG had been conducting search and rescue operations near the vicinity of Palawan as they had also been searching for four missing Filipino fishermen.

The passengers of fishing boat F/BCA Maria Emelyn 2 are boat captain Pedro Isidro, 23; Ronald Mercado, 25; Jimmy Francis, 27; and Zaldy Tapatani, 49, all of Castillejos town in Zambales Province.

The PCG aircraft discovered the motorized fishing vessel on April 9 at 2:30 p.m., some 150 nautical miles northwest of Ulugan Bay, Palawan. They immediately coordinated with BRP Batangas and BRP Gen. Marianao Alvares, positioned near the area, to fetch Isidro and his men.

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I believe we have to do more to protect our EEZ.

It should always be that ONLY FILIPINOS will enjoy the bounty of our seas.

It seems that we really have a shortage of patrol crafts and ships.

If not for the rescue sorties, the illegal fishing activities involving the Viets will not be discovered.

Isn't that a disturbing discovery?

We should acquire more patrol crafts to protect our EEZ.

Light PCG or NAVY aircraft may do similar things to protect our EEZ and even against foreign aggressors.

"I believe we have to do more to protect our EEZ.

It should always be that ONLY FILIPINOS will enjoy the bounty of our seas.

It seems that we really have a shortage of patrol crafts and ships.

If not for the rescue sorties, the illegal fishing activities involving the Viets will not be discovered.

Isn't that a disturbing discovery?

We should acquire more patrol crafts to protect our EEZ.

Light PCG or NAVY aircraft may do similar things to protect our EEZ and even against foreign aggressors."


That's the dilema of our gov't right now. With a limited budget, should we buy the big ships for external defense and leave other areas open or get those smaller OPVs in more numbers and cover as much area as they can? Same with other branches of the AFP. Should we go for the hi-techs and expensive ones and used up all our budget for a couple or make do with refurbished ones that can service many units in the field badly needing it? Should we move to external defense at the same time battle all fronts in our internal conflict or finish our internal problem first then go for the external mode like our neighbors?

I believe we really need to field more smaller crafts just to cover a wider area.

External defense must not be set aside too long.

We need to consider both.

In our current situation though, we really need to focus more on fielding more smaller crafts to protect our source of livelihood.

Uncle Sam and the UN are there anyway in case of any act of external aggression.

^Flipzi: i do agree with your idea of fielding more smaller crafts for fisheries protection but they cannot tackle EEZ protection and similar missions. for EEZ protection and long-range patrol of the Philippines' 300,000 square kilometer territory, there is a need to purchase offshore patrol vessels and guided-missile corvettes. corvettes and OPVs are more credible signs that we Filipinos are taking guard of our territory and will not tolerate poachers, illegal fishermen, terrorists, smugglers, pirates and aggressor navies in entering our territory and EEZ.

yes, there's a need to concentrate efforts in solving the internal strife that is going on but that's not an excuse in neglecting the country's external defenses.

The UN is there, so is Uncle Sam. So why immediately concentrate on external defense and buy all those expensive big ships? What's the use? If you will buy 1 complete ship with all the missiles in it and used up all your budget how about support ships to back up that new single ship? It's annual maintenance?

In case of a shooting war, that single ship will be the first target then what? Same equation will result if a small OPV encounters an intruder and gets involve in a shooting war, the UN will intervene.

So it's better to have more smaller OPVs covering a bigger EEZ and serving the 7,000 islands than a single complete ship assigned in one certain area. Mere presence of these small ships will prevent intruders and can alert the world. Parang mga askal na maingay na gigising sa iyo pati ng mga kapit-bahay mo.

the UN? come on... the UN is only effective in disaster relief and those kinds of stuff but the organization is truly ineffective in preventing conflicts.

remember Rwanda? Darfur? Iraq?

So buying 1 complete ship from your limited budget will make you win against China? or other neighboring countries? So what did you end up? A wannabe bully with a new toy not believing in the organization of nations anymore?

All of us wished that our AFP gets the best at least at par with our neighbors, but unlike our neighbors there is an existing problem that's draining the AFPs budget as well as our Gov't. But just like what other fellow posters has said what's the use of a big ship in the daily needs of our troops? A multi-role jet? Read 1 thread it says there that the planned CF5 deal was cancelled because of "human rights violations" (who would release such info)? So there was the plan but these were being block by problems that needs to be solve first, insurgency!

about the insurgency going on in this country, there's this opinion forming in my mind suggesting that the Philippine government is really not sincere in ending the insurgency so that it will have an excuse to ask for a LARGER defense budget, which, in turn, is ONLY POCKETED by corrupt government and military officials and civilians.

back to the topic of maritime patrols, i do not see anything wrong with the purchase of more smaller naval crafts for fisheries protection and interdiction but these types of vessels are TOTALLY UNSUITED for EEZ protection and long-range maritime patrols. smaller naval crafts lack the endurance that is needed in patrolling the Philippines' HUGE territory and EEZ. such a fact legitimizes the need for vessels such as offshore patrol vessels (for long-range maritime and EEZ patrol, fisheries patrol, etc.) and guided-missile corvettes ("to show the Philippine flag within Philippine territory and EEZ which are often violated by these bastards").

the UN? who would believe in such an organization if it failed to stop the Yanks from attacking Iraq, the slaughter of Rwandans, the mass murder in Darfur and the corruption in the oil-for-food programme in Iraq? the UN is just like the League of Nations before- it has no balls of really stopping conflict sparking in many corners of the globe by vowing to the whims of superpowers such as the US, China, Britain, etc.

We should do this.

Again, it is just a matter of political will on the part of GMA.

That's one of the biggest thing too.

Preventing them from starting the destruction or intrusion is the point here.

The UN and US will definitely come to our rescue.

BUT ONLY AFTER THE INITIAL DAMAGE IS DONE.

Kuwait was redeemed but the damage was already done.

DONT FORGET THE MISCHIEF REEF TAKEOVER AS WELL.

It can happen again, maybe in another form, but it surely will when our neigbors will notice that we have lowered our guard.

Rwanda, Darfur -- both tragic INTERNAL strife, not foreign-induced conflicts
Iraq -- As long as the US doesn't suspect us of developing weapons of mass destruction that we plan to use against it (even based on what turns out later to be erroneous intelligence reports), I suppose we'll be ok.

This post has been edited by tirad on Apr 14 2005, 07:14 PM

I believe this is the best compromise.

We cannot sleep tight if we know that our territory isnt guarded enough.

We must not be discouraged by these budgetary constraints.

We have to do all we can to protect our interests.

^Flipzi: that's correct. a compromise must be done in order to satisfy the need to beef up both our external defenses and internal defenses.

speaking of smaller OPVs, can any one here list down some examples of smaller OPVs (with complete weapons suite such as a 76 mm OTO Melara Super Rapido dual purpose main gun and smaller-caliber naval guns and a helicopter landing deck and hangar) that are affordable enough for the Philippine Navy to purchase and operate? also, i'm wondering why the idea of modifying the design of the Jacinto (Peacock) class OPVs did not come up even though the plans for the vessels were already with the Philippine Navy.

Having those small vessels would be like an alarm system that we are watching intruders. Any shortness in firepower the airforce then comes in. BUT that's another problem and dilema we have right now. No interceptors

The question again, should we buy the latest costing more than the budget we have or get a squadron of those refurbished ones that still can do the job?

that's another story.

check the Air Force thread.

there's a topic there regarding the deactivation of 5th Fighter Wing.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT?

I believe we should jump over to that thread and discuss the matter with the rest.

The OPVs are not that powerful enough to ward off persistent and bigger intruders.

We need some eagles to really scare them off or blow them up if they really get so stubborn.

OPVs in tandem with MRFs were the original plan i think.