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¡¥They were laughing
as they fired¡¦ at fishing vessel
Staff writer, with CNA, MANILA
A Philippine official, who is close to the probe related to the May 9 shooting
at a Taiwanese fishing boat by Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, confirmed
on Saturday for the first time that the incident took place in the overlapping
economic zones between the two countries, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported
yesterday.
The daily, which is one of the top three newspapers in the country, said the
anonymous source had confirmed Taiwan¡¦s claims that the Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28
was attacked in the countries¡¦ overlapping territorial waters, although it was
¡§on the Philippine side and not on the Taiwanese side.¡¨
Manila is insisting that the fishing vessel was attacked after it intruded into
the Philippines¡¦ territorial waters.
The paper quoted another source ¡X who has seen a video of the incident in which
Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng (¬x¥Û¦¨) was killed ¡X telling the newspaper on
Saturday that PCG personnel were laughing as they fired at the boat.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted an anonymous source as saying: ¡§The video
showed the soldiers acting unprofessionally.¡¨
¡§It is disturbing and embarrassing for Philippine law enforcers,¡¨ the source
added.
His statements were confirmed by two other sources who have also seen the video.
According to the PCG report on the incident, Arnold de la Cruz, the commander of
the patrol vessel, ¡§ordered his men to fire at the fishing vessel when it did
not stop after several warnings.¡¨
Investigators on both sides concluded their probes into the incident on Friday
and the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila said its report will be ready
in a ¡§day or two,¡¨ according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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