Despite with their prison
sentence, the nine convicted Chinese nationals poaching on disputed shoal near the
Palawan should pay the imposed fines by court before they will be released, this
was said by the Malacañang.
“They already served penalty of the
subsidiary imprisonment for offense of poaching and for possession of wildlife,”
Herminio Coloma Jr. the Communications
Secretary said during Palace briefing.
“For offense pertaining to the possession
of the endangered species, court imposed penalty of payment of fines. Upon the payment
of the imposed fines, they are deemed to served the penalty fully, and no
further impediment for them to leave our country,” Coloma said.
The said statement came after amid
call issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry Chunying on the unconditional
release of fishermen and its fishing boat.
Recently, Palawan RTC convicted the
nine fishermen caught poaching Half Moon Shoal in West Philippine Sea.
China insisting on fishermen’s
release as it claimed sovereignty over disputed shoal.
While President Aquino acknowledged
China’s sincerity in negotiations, Philippines will still continue to pursue the
arbitration before International Tribunal on Law of Sea, Coloma said.
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