TUGUEGARAO CITY, (PNA) –A Taiwanese fisher who was recently apprehended for poaching in Batanes province has paid an administrative penalty amounting to US$ 50,000 to settle his administrative case filed before the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).
The Taiwanese national, identified as Tsai Po, was apprehended by elements of the Batanes Provincial Police last September 3 within the vicinity of Ditarem Island in the municipality of Itbayat, Batanes.
According to the affidavit signed by the police operatives led by SPO3 Victor de Sagon Jr., PO2s Oliver Gonzales and Antonio Nuñez, they were on seaborne patrol together with Bantay Dagat volunteers headed by one Bryan Libaton, when they sighted a Taiwanese fishing boat about 40 meters from the shore of Ditarem Island.
The police found its lone crew engaged in actual fishing using air compressor. The Taiwanese tried to resist arrest but relented when he realized that he was outnumbered, the police said.
Found in the fishing boat, marked as CTR-PT 3512, was 36 kilograms of fish, with some still alive.
BFAR RO2 Provincial Fisheries Action Officer Dr. Angel Encarnacion immediately filed the administrative complaint against the Taiwanese docketed as Administrative Case No. 011-13.
The Taiwanese respondent through a representative offered to pay a compromise fine of ,000. BFAR Director Asis G. Perez in his Order dated Sept. 09, 2013 accepted the respondent’s offer to pay the minimum imposable administrative penalty, on Executive Order 292 or the Administrative Code of the Philippines which directs government agencies to employ, if possible, amicable settlement in order to expedite administrative proceedings and avoid expensive litigation.