NBI, Taiwan probers to meet again to discuss findings

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will again sit down with its Taiwanese counterparts within the week to talk about their findings regarding the shooting incident in Balintang Channel.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima told reporters Wednesday that while both governments are free to release their respective findings, the Taiwanese investigators requested for another meeting with their counterpart in the Philippines.

“Both can actually release their respective reports any time it is ready. [But] they requested to have that session and we do not see anything wrong with such request as long as they will not insist that we adopt their findings in case our findings are different,” De Lima said.

Both the Philippine and Taiwanese governments are investigating the May 9 shooting by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel of
65-year old Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-Cheng.

The concerned PCG personnel have maintained that Shih-Cheng was accidentally shot at, after the Taiwanese fishing vessel refused to heed their warning shots.

The meeting will not resort to any “cross-checking” of findings, De Lima added.

“It’s just a discussion of findings, for example, meron pa ring hindi malinaw doon sa mga naging findings na pwedeng magpatulong sa kabila in terms, for example, of the forensic side of it bago makumpleto, bago i-finalize ang report, why not?” she said.