WATERWAY CLEARING Vessels manned by Chinese crew members are seen off San Felipe town in Zambales province in this photo taken in May before the provincial government suspended dredging operations in Maloma River. —JOANNA ROSE AGLIBOT
SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES — The Zambales provincial government denied on Thursday that a vessel, where 13 undocumented Chinese were arrested in nearby Bataan province, would conduct dredging operations in San Felipe town.
In a telephone interview on Thursday, provincial engineer Domingo Mariano said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Zambales station, upon their query, said that the agent of the dredger vessel Harvest 89 (not Harvester 89 as earlier reported), anchored off Mariveles, Bataan, had no coordination with them.
“The PCG says it could not detect that vessel in its marine traffic monitoring and it is unlikely that it will go to San Felipe because the dredging activities there are still suspended,” said Mariano in Filipino.
Six months ago, the provincial government suspended all dredging activities following a series of protests and the growing number of complaints from residents in San Felipe town who were wary about the presence of 17 Chinese dredging ships that operated in their municipal waters.
READ: PCG detains 17 vessels involved in Zambales dredging
Based on Administrative Order No. 13 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the dredging was part of the river restoration and flood control project aimed at rehabilitating the “heavily silted channels of the Bucao River in Botolan town, the Maloma River in San Felipe town and Sto. Tomas River traversing the towns of San Marcelino, San Narciso and San Felipe.”
Dredger vessel Harvest 89. Photo from Philippine Coast Guard
Immigration law violation
The suspension of dredging operations in the province was lifted on June 14 but the operations that would aid the flow of the Maloma River, which was part of a flood control project, remained suspended, said Mariano.
The 13 undocumented Chinese arrested in Bataan on Tuesday were sent to the PCG detention facility in Taguig City.
The PCG, in a statement late Wednesday, said the foreigners would face charges for violating Commonwealth Act No. 613, or The Philippine Immigration Act.
The undocumented Chinese were discovered after the crew of Harvest 89 notified the PCG of the vessel’s departure for its next port of call in San Felipe, supposedly to conduct dredging operations.
The team from the PCG was initially denied entry by the dredger’s agent, “claiming that all necessary documentation was in order.”
But the PCG said all 13 foreigners were found lacking proper documents, adding that the manifest included only eight Filipino crew members.
During the inspection, the PCG also found a military-style uniform, resembling those worn by members of the People’s Liberation Army of China, “raising security concerns.”
The PCG said it was conducting “further investigations and legal actions” in coordination with other government agencies.
LACKING PAPERS These undocumented Chinese nationals (right) have been arrested by the Philippine Coast Guard following an inspection of the dredger vessel Harvest 89in Mariveles, Bataan on Tuesday. —PHOTO COURTESY OF PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD
Hyperline case
In May, a vessel with seven Chinese crew members was detained in Zambales. The foreign crew would be deported after they were found guilty of violating the country’s immigration law, according to Cmdr. Euphraim Jayson Diciano, chief of the PCG station in Zambales.
An Oct. 14 ruling by Judge Santiago Beltran Jr. of the Regional Trial Court Branch 69 in Iba, Zambales, found the crew, who entered into a plea agreement, guilty of violating Section 45 of Commonwealth Act No. 613. Each crew member was sentenced to imprisonment of five months and fined P5,000, but the court deemed that their sentence had been served as they had been detained since May 16.
The Bureau of Immigration has been instructed to start the deportation proceedings once the foreigners settled their fines.
The PCG initially detained Hyperline 988, a Sierra Leone-registered vessel, after it hoisted a Philippine flag and ignored radio communications.
When Typhoon “Aghon” (international name: Ewiniar) struck on May 29, the vessel ran aground in Barangay Maloma, prompting the crew to disembark and take temporary shelter at a nearby resort.
Due to the lack of PCG detention facilities, the crew was allowed to stay at the resort under PCG custody. They were treated as guests with some freedom of movement until their arrest warrant was issued on Sept. 27, which led to stricter security measures.
After posting bail of P120,000 each, they regained limited freedom within the resort. —WITH A REPORT FROM NESTOR CORRALES