NBI, Taiwan probers meet anew to discuss Balintang Channel shooting

Taiwanese investigators use a rubber boat in Manila’s South Harbor to inspect the hull of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ship involved in the shooting death of a Taiwanese fisherman in the Balintang Channel earlier this month. The Taiwanese are here while NBI investigators are in Taiwan to make a parallel investigation. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and a team of investigators from Taiwan will meet Thursday to talk about their findings on the shooting incident in Balintang Channel last May 9 that led to the death of a Taiwanese fisherman.

NBI Director Nonnatus Rojas confirmed that the Taiwanese probers arrived in the country Thursday morning to sit down with their counterparts with the NBI.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima earlier said it was the Taiwanese probers who requested the meeting.

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 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.