PHOTO from Bureau of Immmigration website.
MANILA, Philippines—The Bureau of Immigration (BI) will turn over to the Palawan regional trial court the custody of the 12 Chinese nationals whom the court had sentenced to suffer prison terms ranging from five to 12 years after it found them guilty of illegal fishing and entry.
According to lawyer Elaine Tan, BI spokesperson, the Chinese fishermen, who are out on bail, have remained in the custody of the BI Palawan because of the deportation case it filed against them.
Aside from prison terms, the court also imposed a penalty of $100,000 or (P4.3 million) for each of the accused.
All the 12 poachers will be serving their prison sentence at the Iwahig Penal colony in Palawan.
They are facing a separate case for bribery after they attempted to offer money to members of the Tubbataha Management Office in exchange for their release.
The Chinese fishermen have been convicted of violating Republic Act 10067 or the Tubbataha Protected Area Law of 2009 for poaching.
Park rangers recovered around 400 boxes from the fisherman’s vessel containing slaughtered anteaters or “balintong.”