Coast Guard men won’t pay victim’s family

They will not pay the victim’s family a single cent.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officers tagged in the shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman during a chase at the Balintang Channel almost three years ago will not abide by a Taiwan court’s order to pay $3.198 million (NT) or P4.55 million in compensation to the victim’s family, insisting they committed no crime.

Rod Moreno, counsel for the eight accused PCG officers, maintained that payment of damages to the family of slain fisherman Hong Shi Cheng was “beside the point” as the officers were only doing their job in pursuing the Taiwanese ship that had strayed into Philippine waters on May 9, 2013, resulting in a fatal encounter.

“We’re not going to pay a cent.  It presupposes a wrongful act, but this was a lawful act. They were just performing their duty,” said Moreno when reached by phone.

If at all, it should be the Taiwanese side that must recompense the Philippines for fishing within the country’s waters, the lawyer said.

“It’s like paying the thief who broke into your house and stole your things,” he told the Inquirer, asserting that the incident happened within Philippine territory.